Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


https://archive.org/details/astralworlditsscOOpanc 


VOLUME  II  OF  THE  OCCULT  MANUALS 

TRUE  OCCULT  KNOWLEDGE  GIVES  YOU 
PRACTICAL  POWER  AND  STRENGTH 


THE 

ASTRAL  WORLD 

ITS  SCENES,  DWELLERS, 
AND  PHENOMENA 


BY 

SWAMI  PANCHADASI 


ENGLISH  REPRESENTATIVES: 

L.  N.  FOWLER  &  CO. 

7,  IMPERIAL  ARCADE,  LUDGATE  CIRCUS, 
LONDON,  ENGLAND 


ADVANCED  THOUGHT  PUBLISHING  CO. 

168  N.  MICHIGAN  AVE.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


COPYRIGHT  1915 

ADVANCED  THOUGHT  PUBLISHING  CO. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 


D  D 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  I.  The  Seven  Planes .  5 

The  wonderful  Astral  World.  The  old  occult  teachings.  The 
Seven  Planes  of  Being.  The  Material  Plane.  The  Plane  of  Forces. 

The  Mental  Plane.  The  Four  Higher  Planes.  The  Sub- Planes, 
and  the  Seven-Times-Seven  Divisions.  What  is  meant  by  a  Plane. 
Degrees  of  Vibrational  Energy.  A  State,  rather  than  a  Place. 
Vibrational  dimension,  not  Dimensions  of  Space.  Vibratory  key¬ 
notes  of  substance.  Nature’s  Finer  Forces. 

Chapter  II.  Astral  Regions .  12 

What  is  meant  by  an  Astral  Region.  Where  located.  The 
meaning  of  the  occult  term  "Astral.”  Sanscrit  and  Grecian 
origin.  How  one  visits  the  Astral  World.  The  Astral  Vision. 

Using  the  Astral  Body.  The  Astral  Senses.  Receiving  impres¬ 
sions  on  the  Astral  Plane.  Clairvoyant  perception  of  the  Astral 
phenomena.  Shifting  from  the  Material  World  to  the  Astral.  The 
Astral  filament. 

Chapter  III.  Reality  of  the  Astral .  20 

Differences  in  substance  merely  a  matter  of  Vibration.  Every¬ 
thing  Vibrates.  Nothing  really  solid  in  Nature.  The  Infinite 
Magnifying  Glass,  and  what  it  reveals.  Reality  of  Astral  sub¬ 
stance.  scenery,  dwellers,  and  phenomena.  The  Astral  Law  of 
Change.  Several  ways  of  traveling  on  the  Astral.  Time  and  Space 
on  the  Astral.  What  one  encounters  on  an  Astral  journey. 

Sights  pleasant  and  unpleasant. 

Chapter  IV.  Passing  the  Border .  28 

Passing  out  of  the  Physical  Body.  Alone  in  the  Astral  Body. 

How  the  Astral  Body  seems  to  one  dwelling  in  it.  Looking  back 
on  one's  own  Physical  Body.  How  connection  is  retained  with  the 
sleeping  Physical  Body,  while  one  is  out  on  the  Astral.  Raising 
one’s  vibrations.  A  strange  region.  Wonderful  sights  on  the  Plane 
of  Forces.  Walking  through  a  stone-wall.  The  little  walk  down 
the  street,  in  the  Astral  Body,  and  what  one  sees  there.  Weird 
forms,  and  wonderful  colors  in  the  Astral.  Auras  in  the  Astral. 

Chapter  V.  Some  Lower  Sub-Planes .  36 

The  Dividing  Veil.  The  Astral  Cemetery.  Disintegrating 
Astral  Forms.  Astral  Shells.  Why  the  soul  sheds,  the  Astral 
Shell.  The  Astral  Spectres  or  Shades.  The  "Galvanized”  Astral 
Shell.  How  the  Astral  Spectres  are  vitalized.  How  the  Astral 
Spectres  manifest  in  Psychic  Circles,  etc.  Bodies  without  souls 
yet  seemingly  alive  and  conscious.  Counterfeit  Entities.  Occult 
Knowledge  prevents  deplorable  mistakes. 

Chapter  VT.  Disembodied  Souls .  44 

Entering  the  region  of  the  disembodied.  A  sacred  sub-plane. 

The  Resting  Place  of  the  Souls.  The  Great  Spiritual  Guardians 
of  the  Souls.  Not  dead,  but  sleeping.  The  Watchers  over  the 
Forms.  Astral  Purgatories.  The  occult  basis  of  theological 
theories.  Why  the  disembodied  soul  sleeps.  The  period  of  the 
Astral  Sleep.  The  low- developed  soul.  The  average  soul.  The 
highly-developed  soul.  The  Law  of  the  Astral,  and  how  it 
manifests. 


3 


4 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  VII.  Scenes  of  the  Astral .  52 

A  very  low  sub-vision.  A  foul  astral  atmosphere.  Low  entities. 

The  Earth-bound  souls.  The  Astral  Fog.  The  Tantalus-like 
denizens  of  the  low  Astral  planes.  "The  Lust  of  the  Eye."  The 
hell  of  lack  of  the  physical  body.  How  the  low  entities  pass 
their  time.  The  effect.  Outliving,  and  Living-out.  Punished  by 
their  sins,  not  for  them.  The  regions  of  the  lewd.  The  regions 
of  the  Money-hogs.  Purgatory.  The  Burning-out  by  the  Flames 
of  Desire.  Astral  Scenery,  and  how  created. 

Chapter  VIII.  Life  and  Work  on  the  Astral .  60 

Astral  scenes,  buildings,  cities,  and  paraphernalia.  How  artifi¬ 
cial  Astral  structures  are  built,  and  of  what  composed.  Character 
and  occupations  of  the  Astral  Dwellers.  Earnest  wcrking-out  of 
ideals,  ideas,  ambitions,  inclinations,  etc.  Happy  Hunting  Grounds 
on  the  Astral.  The  Astral  Valhalla,  and  its  inhabitants  Useful 
work  on  the  Astral.  The  Creative  Joy.  Artists,  Composers,  and 
Inventors  on  the  Astral.  Astral  Workshops  and  Laboratories. 

Chapter  IX.  Higher  Planes  and  Beyond .  68 

The  higher  Astral  Regions.  Higher  Vibrations.  The  Great 
Plane  of  the  Religious  Souls.  A  Multitude  of  Religious  Centres 
on  the  Astral.  How  the  Sects,  Cults  and  Denominations  gather, 
and  how  their  Regions  are  Furnished.  Stage-settings,  and 
Scenery.  High  and  Low  Forms  of  Religions.  Religious  Ancient 
and  Modern.  Each  and  All  have  a  Place.  Dante’s  Inferno,  on 
the  Astral.  The  Home  of  the  Philosophers,  and  Theologians. 
Skeptics  and  Materialists  on  the  Astral.  The  Irony  of  the  Astral. 
Beyond  the  Astral.  The  Heaven-Worlds.  The  True  Home  of  the 
Soul.  The  Harmony  of  the  Heaven-World.  Once  heard,  never 
forgotten — once  seen,  always  remembered. 

Chapter  X.  The  Astral  Light .  77 

What  the  Astral  Light  is.  The  Astral  Records.  The  Great 
Astral  Picture  Gallery.  The  Photographic  Records  of  the  Past. 

How  they  can  be  reproduced.  The  Great  Astral  Moving  Picture. 
History  Reproduced.  Nothing  escapes  the  Astral  Records.  Noth¬ 
ing  Concealed  from  the  Astral  Camera.  The  Akashic  Records. 

The  Astral  Fourth  Dimension.  How  Clairvoyants  read  the  Past. 

A  startling  presentation  of  a  wonderful  occult  truth.  A  Revelation 
to  many. 

Chapter  XI.  Astral  Entities .  83 

Non-Human  dwellers  upon  the  Astral.  Nature  Spirits. 
Gnomes,  sylphs,  and  salamanders.  Fairies,  pixies,  elves,  brownies, 
goblins,  etc.  The  truth  underlying  the  old  legends.  Character¬ 
istics  of  these  entities.  Pranks  of  the  elves.  Helpful  Brownies. 
Artificial  Entities  on  the  Astral.  Vitalized  thought  forms.  How 
created,  and  what  they  do.  Guardian  angels — what  they  really 
are.  Family  ghosts.  So-called  Supernatural  visitors,  and  how 
created.  The  truth  about  the  devils  of  history.  Spirit  Return— 
its  Truth  and  Error.  Occult  Explanation.  Final  Advice  from  the 
Teacher. 


THE  SEVEN  PLANES 


5 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  SEVEN  PLANES, 

EVERY  student  of  occultism,  from  the 
humblest  beginner  to  the  most  ad¬ 
vanced  pupil,  has  a  full  realization  of 
the  wonders  of  that  strange  plane  of  being 
known  as  The  Astral  World.  The  beginner, 
of  course,  has  not  the  privilege  of  actually 
viewing  life  on  this  plane,  except,  perhaps,  in 
exceptional  cases,  or  under  extraordinary  cir¬ 
cumstances.  But  even  he  finds  constant  ref¬ 
erence  to  the  subject  in  the  treatise  his  studies, 
and  soon  discovers  that  that  particular  plane  is 
the  scene  and  field  of  some  very  strange 
phenomena. 

As  he  advances,  and  learns  more  of  the  oc¬ 
cult  laws  and  principles,  he  develops  still 
greater  interest  in  the  subject.  And,  when  he 
reaches  the  stage  in  which  he  is  able  to  actually 
sense  (by  astral  vision)  on  this  plane,  he  finds 
that  a  new  world  of  experience  has  opened  out 
before  him. 

The  oldest  occult  teachings,  as  well  as  the 
latest,  inform  the  student  that  there  are  Seven 
Planes  of  Being.  The  lowest  of  these  planes 
is  that  which  is  known  as  the  Material  Plane. 


6 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


Second  in  order  is  that  which  is  known  as  the 
Plane  of  Forces.  The  third  is  that  which  is 
known  as  the  Astral  Plane.  The  fourth  is  that 
which  is  known  as  the  Mental  Plane. 

Above  these  four  planes  are  three  higher 
planes,  known  to  occultists,  but  which  have  no 
names  that  can  be  understood  by  those  dwell¬ 
ing  only  on  the  lower  planes,  and  which  are 
incapable  of  explanation  to  those  on  the  lower 
planes.  I  shall  refer  to  some  of  these  higher 
planes,  in  this  little  book,  as  we  proceed,  but 
shall  make  no  attempt  to  describe  them  for 
the  reasons  just  given.  Our  subject  for  the 
present  consideration  is  merely  the  Astral 
Plane,  and  we  shall  find  sufficient  interesting 
facts  in  considering  the  phenomena  of  that 
plane  without  attempting  to  penetrate  the 
veils  of  those  still  higher. 

It  should  be  mentioned  at  this  point,  that 
each  of  the  Seven  Planes  has  seven  sub-planes ; 
and  that  each  of  these  sub-planes  has  its  own 
seven  subdivisions;  and  so  on  to  the  seventh 
degree  of  subdivision.  So,  you  see,  there  is  a 
most  minute  classification  in  the  occult  teach¬ 
ings. 

The  student  of  occultism,  at  the  beginning, 
usually  experiences  difficulty  in  forming  a  clear 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  “plane” 


THE  SEVEN  PLANES 


7 


as  used  in  the  occult  teachings.  Consulting 
the  dictionary,  he  is  apt  to  get  the  idea  of  a 
plane  as  one  of  a  series  of  straight  layers — 
one  part  of  a  great  strata — above  and  below 
which  are  other  layers  or  strata.  It  usually  is 
quite  difficult  for  the  occult  teacher  to  eradi¬ 
cate  this  erroneous  idea  from  the  mind  of  his 
pupils,  and  to  substitute  the  correct  concept. 

This  error  arises  from  thinking  of  these 
planes  of  being  as  composed  of  matter,  or  mate¬ 
rial  substance,  which,  of  course,  is  incorrect. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  even  the  densest 
form  of  matter  itself  is  composed  of  vibrations 
of  energy  (as  recognized  by  modern  science), 
and  that  the  Forces  of  Nature  are  but  mani¬ 
festations  of  vibrations  of  energy,  one  begins 
to  find  the  key.  Instead  of  the  planes  rising 
one  above  the  other  in  the  scale  of  the  fineness 
of  matter,  they  are  graded  according  to  their 
respective  degrees  of  vibration  of  energy.  In 
short,  they  are  planes  of  vibrations  of  energy, 
and  not  planes  of  matter  at  all.  Matter  is 
simply  the  lowest  degree  of  vibrations  of 
energy,  that  is  all. 

The  second  common  source  of  error,  on  the 
part  of  the  beginner  in  occultism,  is  that  of 
picturing  the  planes  as  lying  one  above  the 
other  in  space.  This  conception,  of  course, 


8 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


naturally  follows  upon  the  error  of  thinking 
of  the  planes  as  a  series  of  layers  or  strata  of 
fine  matter;  but  it  also  often  persists  even  after 
the  student  has  grasped  the  idea  that  the 
planes  are  grades  of  vibration,  rather  than  of 
matter.  But,  finally,  the  student  is  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  the  planes  are  not  “layers” 
or  “strata”  at  all.  The  planes  do  not  lie  one 
above  the  other,  in  space.  They  have  not 
spatial  distinction  or  degree.  They  interpene¬ 
trate  each  other  in  the  same  point  of  space. 
A  single  point  of  space  may  have  its  manifesta¬ 
tions  of  each  and  all  of  the  seven  planes  of 
being. 

Some  of  the  old  occultists  sought  to  explain 
this  condition  of  things  to  their  students  in  the 
words  of  a  very  celebrated  ancient  teacher, 
Who  originated  the  aphorism:  “A  plane  of 
being  is  not  a  place,  but  a  state  of  being.”  No 
words  can  give  a  better  explanation  of,  or  aid, 
to,  the  correct  mental  conception  of  the  idea 
of  a  “plane”  in  the  occult  sense  of  the  term. 

To  those  students  who  may  find  it  difficult 
to  form  the  idea  of  a  number  of  manifestations, 
each  having  its  own  rate  of  vibration,  occupy¬ 
ing  the  same  point  of  space  at  the  same  time, 
I  would  say  that  a  little  consideration  of  the 
phenomena  of  the  physical  world  will  perhaps 


THE  SEVEN  PLANES 


9 


serve  as  an  aid  in  the  matter.  For  instance, 
every  student  of  physics  knows  that  a  single 
point  of  space  may  contain  vibrations  of  heat, 
light  of  many  shades,  magnetism,  electricity, 
X  rays,  etc.,  etc.,  each  manifesting  its  own  rate 
of  vibration,  and  yet  not  interfering  with  the 
others. 

Every  beam  of  sunlight  contains  many  dif¬ 
ferent  colors,  each  with  its  own  rate  of  vibra¬ 
tion,  and  yet  none  crowding  out  the  others. 
By  the  proper  laboratory  apparatus  each  kind 
of  light  may  be  separated  from  the  others,  and 
the  ray  thus  split  up.  The  difference  in  the 
colors  arise  simply  from  the  different  rate  of 
etheric  vibrations. 

Again  it  is  possible  to  send  many  telegrams 
along  the  same  wire,  at  the  same  time,  by 
using  senders  and  receivers  of  different  vibra¬ 
tory  “keynotes.”  The  same  thing  has  its 
corresponding  analogy  in  the  case  of  wireless 
telegraphy.  So,  you  see,  even  on  the  physical 
planes  we  find  many  forms  of  vibratory  mani¬ 
festation  occupying  the  same  point  of  space 
at  the  same  time. 

The  Material  Plane,  with  which  we  are  all 
familiar,  has,  of  course,  its  seven  sub-planes, 
and  likewise  its  seven-times-seven  series  of 
subdivisions,  as  have  all  the  seven  planes.  At 


10  THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


first  we  are  apt  to  think  that  we  are  perfectly 
familiar  with  every  form  of  matter,  but  this  is 
far  from  being  the  case,  for  we  are  familiar 
with  only  a  few  forms.  The  occult  teachings 
show  us  that  on  certain  of  the  fixed  stars,  and 
some  of  the  planets  of  our  own  chain,  there  are 
forms  and  kinds  of  matter  as  much  lower  in 
vibration  than  the  densest  form  of  matter 
known  to  us,  as  these  dense  forms  are  lower 
than  the  highest  ultra-gaseous  forms  of  matter 
recognized  by  us.  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  same  teachings  inform  us  that  there  are  in 
existence,  in  other  worlds,  and  even  (to  an 
extent)  in  our  own,  forms  and  kinds  of  matter 
as  much  higher  than  these  highest  forms  of 
ultra-gaseous  matter  known  to  us,  as  the  said 
known  forms  are  higher  than  the  densest  form 
of  matter  now  known  to  us.  This  is  a  startling 
statement,  but  every  advanced  occultist  knows 
it  to  be  true. 

Physical  science  formerly  classified  matter 
as  follows:  (i)  solids;  (2)  liquids;  (3)  gase¬ 
ous.  But  modern  science  has  found  many 
forms  of  matter  far  more  tenuous  and  rarer 
than  even  the  finest  gas.  It  now  calls  this 
fourth  class  “ultra-gaseous  matter.”  But 
occultists  know  that  beyond  this  fourth  sub¬ 
plane  of  matter  which  science  is  just  now  dis- 


THE  SEVEN  PLANES 


11 


covering,  there  lie  three  other,  and  still  finer, 
sub-planes,  of  which  science  at  present  has  no 
conception. 

Next  higher  in  the  scale  of  manifested  being, 
we  find  what  is  known  as  the  Plane  of  Forces, 
of  which  very  little  is  known  outside  of  occult 
science,  although,  of  later  years,  physical 
science  has  been  breaking  into  this  field.  In 
the  next  twenty  years  physical  science  will 
proceed  further  in  this  direction.  The  research 
into  radio-activity  is  leading  toward  further 
knowledge  regarding  this  plane  of  manifesta¬ 
tion. 

On  the  Plane  of  Forces,  we  find  the  seven 
sub-planes,  and  likewise  the  seven-times-seven 
subdivision.  There  are  forces  far  below  the 
scale  of  the  ordinary  forces  of  Nature  known 
to  man.  And,  likewise,  there  are  great  series 
of  Nature’s  Finer  Forces  at  the  other  end  of 
the  scale,  of  which  the  ordinary  man — even 
the  scientist — knows  nothing.  It  is  these  finer 
forces  which  account  for  many  of  the  wonders 
of  occult  science.  In  particular,  the  fine  force 
called  “prana”  or  “vital  force,”  plays  an  impor¬ 
tant  part  in  all  occult  phenomena. 

Next  above  the  scale  of  the  Plane  of  Forces, 
we  find  the  great  Astral  Plane,  the  considera¬ 
tion  of  which  is  the  purpose  of  this  little  book. 


12 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


CHAPTER  II. 

ASTRAL  REGIONS. 

« 

IN  the  occult  teachings  we  find  frequent 
references  to  what  are  called  “the  astral 
regions,”  and  the  inhabitants  and  phe¬ 
nomena  of  said  regions.  Like  the  term  “plane,” 
this  term  “region”  has  caused  much  misunder¬ 
standing.  The  old  occultists  used  it  in  a  loose 
sense,  knowing  that  their  pupils  clearly  under¬ 
stood  the  real  significance.  They  did  not  care 
whether  or  not  other  persons  understood.  But 
the  modern  investigator,  without  the  benefit  of 
a  teacher,  often  finds  himself  confused  by  this 
mention  of  “regions”  of  the  Astral  Plane,  and 
frequently  finds  himself  thinking  of  them  in 
the  sense  of  the  “heavens  and  hells”  of  the  old 
theology — as  definite  places  in  space.  But 
these  astral  regions  are  nothing  more  than 
vibrational  manifestations  on  the  Astral  Plane, 
which  have  no  special  reference  to  any  set- 
aside  portion  of  space,  and  which  manifesta¬ 
tions  may,  and  do,  occur  at  almost  any  point 
of  space.  The  astral  regions  occupy  the  same 
space  as  the  material  regions,  neither  interfer¬ 
ing  with  the  other. 

The  term  “astral”  is  derived  from  the  Greek 


ASTRAL  REGIONS 


13 


word  meaning  “related  to  a  star,”  and  was 
originally  used  in  describing  the  heavens  of 
the  Greeks — the  abodes  of  their  gods.  From 
this  sense  and  usage  the  term  widened  in 
application,  until  it  was  employed  to  indicate 
what  might  be  called  the  “ghostland”  of  the 
ancient  people.  This  ghostland  was  believed 
to  be  inhabited  by  beings  of  an  etheral  nature, 
not  only  disembodied  spirits,  but  also  angelic 
beings  of  a  higher  order. 

The  ancient  occultists  of  Greece,  and  other 
Western  lands,  thus  naturally  fell  into  the  cus¬ 
tom  of  using  the  familiar  term  to  indicate  that 
which  we  know  as  the  Astral  Plane  in  modern 
occultism.  Of  course,  the  Oriental  occultists 
had  their  own  terms  for  this  plane  of  mani¬ 
festation,  which  terms  were  derived  from  old 
Sanscrit  roots,  and  which  were  much  older 
than  the  Greek  terms.  But,  as  the  use  of 
Sanscrit  terms  has  a  tendency  to  confuse  West¬ 
ern  students,  the  best  Oriental  teachers,  today, 
in  teaching  Western  students,  almost  always 
use  the  old  Greek  occult  terms. 

At  this  point,  I  must  answer  a  question 
which  usually  presents  itself  to  the  mind  of 
the  intelligent  student  at  about  this  particular 
stage  of  the  teaching.  It  is  probably  in  the 
mind  of  the  student  who  is  reading  these 


14 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


words,  at  this  particular  moment.  The  ques¬ 
tion  may  be  stated  as  follows:  “How  is  it 
possible  for  anyone  to  speak  intelligently  of 
the  phenomena  of  the  Astral  Plane,  if  that 
plane  is  on  a  higher  vibratory  scale  than  the 
physical  senses.  How  can  one  visit,  and  per¬ 
ceive  things  on,  the  Astral  Plane,  without  his 
body  being  dematerialized?,, 

This  question  is  a  natural  and  perfectly  fair 
one,  and  evidences  the  inquiring  mind  which 
the  true  occultist  always  possesses.  And  no 
true  occult  teacher  will  hesitate  for  a  moment 
in  frankly  answering  it.  For,  remember  this 
always,  my  students,  the  occult  teaching  is  not 
based  merely  on  the  principles  laid  down  as 
“gospel”  by  the  old  occultists.  Respect,  yes! 
great  respect  is  paid  to  these  old  teachings,  of 
course,  but  every  advanced  occultist  knows 
that  he  must  actually  experience  the  mani¬ 
festation  of  occult  phenomena  before  he  can 
positively  pronounce  the  same  to  be  an  occult 
truth.  Such  experience  comes  to  every 
*  advanced  occultist,  when  he  reaches  the  nec¬ 
essary  stage  of  development  which  alone 
renders  such  experience  safe  for  him.  Like 
the  scientist,  the  true  occultist  learns  by  his 
own  experience,  built  upon  the  recorded  previ¬ 
ous  experience  of  others.  To  the  advanced 


ASTRAL  REGIONS 


15 


occultist  the  phenomena  of  the  Astral  Plane  is 
just  as  real — just  as  readily  sensed — as  is  the 
phenomena  of  the  material  plane  to  those  func¬ 
tioning  upon  it. 

But,  to  answer  the  question:  One  does  not 
have  to  disintegrate  or  dematerialize  his  phys¬ 
ical  body  in  order  to  visit  or  sense  the  Astral 
Plane  and  its  phenomena.  There  are  two  ave¬ 
nues  of  approach  to  the  Astral  Plane,  as  fol- 
lows:  (i)  by  the  employment  of  the  astral 
senses;  and  (2)  by  visiting  in  the  so-called 
“astral  body.”  Let  us  consider  each  of  these 
avenues  in  turn. 

By  the  term  “the  astral  senses,”  occultists 
indicate  that  wonderful  secondary  set  of 
senses,  corresponding  in  office  to  the  five 
physical  senses,  by  means  of  which  man  is  able 
to  receive  impressions  on  the  Astral  Plane. 

Each  of  the  physical  senses  of  man  has  its 
astral  counterpart,  which  functions  on  the 
astral  plane  just  as  the  physical  senses  do  upon 
the  material  plane.  Thus  every  man  has,  in 
latency,  the  power  of  seeing,  hearing,  feeling, 
smelling,  and  tasting,  on  the  astral  plane,  by 
means  of  these  five  astral  senses.  Nay  more, 
as  all  advanced  occultists  know,  man  really 
has  seven  physical  senses  instead  of  five, 
though  these  additional  two  senses  are  not  suf- 


16 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


\ 


ficiently  developed  for  use  in  the  average  per¬ 
son  (though  the  occultist  of  fair  attainment 
generally  unfolds  them  into  use).  And  even 
these  two  extra  physical  senses  also  have  their 
astral  counterparts. 

In  the  cases  of  persons  who,  accidentally  or 
through  careful  training,  have  developed  the 
power  of  astral  vision — perception  through 
astral  sight — the  scenes  of  the  Astral  Plane  are 
perceived  just  as  clearly  as  are  those  of  the 
material  plane  perceived  by  the  physical  sense 
of  sight.  The  ordinary  clairvoyant  has  flashes 
of  this  astral  vision,  as  a  rule,  and  is  not  able 
to  sense  astrally  by  an  act  of  will.  The  trained 
occultist,  on  the  other  hand,  is  able  to  shift 
from  one  set  of  senses  to  another,  by  an  act  of 
will,  whenever  he  wishes  to  do  so.  In  fact, 
such  occultists  may  function  on  both  planes  at 
the  same  time,  in  this  way,  if  they  so  desire. 

In  cases  of  clairvoyance,  or  astral  visioning, 
the  occultist  remains  in  his  physical  body,  and 
senses  the  phenomena  of  the  Astral  Plane 
quite  naturally  or  easily.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  him  even  to  enter  into  a  trance  condition, 
or  any  abnormal  mental  state  or  condition. 
And  still  less  is  it  necessary  for  him  to  leave 
his  physical  body  in  such  cases.  In  the  instance 
of  the  higher  form  of  clairvoyance,  he  may 


ASTRAL  REGIONS 


17 


even  sense  events  both  on  the  physical  plane, 
as  well  as  the  astral  planes,  at  a  distance — 
though,  strictly  speaking,  this  belongs  to  a 
somewhat  different  order  of  occult  phenomena. 
To  vision  astrally,  the  occultist  has  merely  to 
shift  his  sensory  mechanism,  just  as  the  oper¬ 
ator  on  the  typewriter  shifts  from  the  small 
letter  type  to  the  capitals  by  a  shiftkey.  This, 
then,  is  the  simplest  and  most  common  way  of 
occult  sensing  on  the  Astral  Plane.  It  is  pos¬ 
sible  to  many  to  whom  the  second,  method  is 
impossible. 

The  second  avenue  of  approach  to  the  Astral 
Plane  is  that  in  which  the  individual  leaves  his 
physical  body,  and  actually  travels  on  the 
Astral  Plane  in  his  astral  body.  The  astral 
body  is  composed  of  an  etheral  substance  of 
a  very  high  degree  of  vibration.  It  is  not  mere 
matter,  and  yet  is  not  mere  force — it  is  com¬ 
posed  of  astral  substance  which  resembles  very 
fine  matter,  but  which  is  far  more  tenuous  than 
anything  that  is  known  as  matter.  Ordinarily 
the  astral  body  can  be  sensed  only  by  means 
of  the  astral  vision,  but  under  certain  other  con¬ 
ditions  it  takes  on  the  semblance  of  a  vapory 
form  of  matter,  and  is  perceptible  to  the  ordi¬ 
nary  physical  senses  as  a  “ghost”  or  “appari¬ 
tion,”  even  when  the  person  is  in  physical  life. 


18 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


The  astral  body  is  an  exact  counterpart  of  the 
physical  body,  but  survives  the  latter  by  a 
number  of  years.  It  is  not  immortal,  however, 
and  finally  disintegrates  and  is  resolved  into  its 
original  elements  just  as  is  the  physical  body. 

The  advanced  occultist,  in  his  astral  body, 
is  able  to  leave  his  physical  body  (which 
remains  in  a  state  of  sleep  or  trance)  and  to 
visit  at  will  on  the  Astral  Plane,  even  at  points 
in  space  far  removed  from  his  physical  body. 

He,  however,  is  always  connected  with  the 
physical  body  by  a  thin,  cobweb-like,  filament 
of  ethereal  substance,  which  extends  or  con¬ 
tracts  as  he  travels  away  from,  or  toward,  the 
sleeping  physical  body.  If  this  filament  is 
broken  by  an  accident  on  the  Astral  Plane,  his 
physical  body  “dies”  and  he  is  never  able  to 
return  to  it.  Such  accidents  are  rare,  but  occult 
history  has  records  showing  their  occasional 
occurrence. 

Many  persons  are  able  to  travel  in  the  astral 
body,  during  ordinary  sleep,  but  usually  have 
no  recollection  of  the  same  upon  reawakening. 
The  occultist,  on  the  other  hand,  travels  con¬ 
sciously,  and  with  a  purpose,  and  always  is 
wide-awake  on  such  journeys.  He  is  as  much 
at  home  on  the  Astral  Plane  as  on  the  physical 


one. 


ASTRAL  REGIONS 


19 


And  so,  student,  you  see  how  the  occult 
teaching  regarding  the  Astral  Plane  has  been 
obtained;  and  how  such  teaching  has  as  firm 
a  basis  in  actual  experience  as  have  those 
based  upon  physical  observation,  experiment, 
and  experience.  Moreover,  every  occultist 
may  verify  the  teaching  for  himself— ^in  fact 
actually  does  so. 


20 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


CHAPTER  III. 

REALITY  OF  THE  ASTRAL. 

IT  is  customary  among  occultists  to  speak 
of  the  Astral  Plane,  simply  as  “the  Astral,” 
as  for  instance  “out  in  the  Astral;”  “visit¬ 
ing  the  Astral “phenomena  of  the  Astral 
“inhabitants  of  the  Astral,”  etc.,  etc.  The  stu¬ 
dent  may  as  well  familiarize  himself  with  this 
use  of  the  term  “the  Astral,”  in  order  to  under¬ 
stand,  and  be  understood  by,  others  interested 
in  occult  study.  Accordingly,  I  shall  from  now 
on  use  this  term,  “the  Astral,”  as  indicating 
the  Astral  Regions — the  Astral  Plane — with¬ 
out  further  explanation. 

One  of  the  hardest  things  for  the  elementary 
student  to  realize  is  that  the  Astral  is  just  as 
real,  abiding,  and  fixed  as  is  the  material  world. 
Just  as  steam  is  actually  as  real  as  water,  or 
even  as  ice,  so  is  the  Astral  just  as  real  as  the 
world  of  the  physical  senses.  For  that  matter, 
if  we  could  see  our  world  of  matter  placed 
under  a  sufficiently  strong  magnifying  glass, 
we  should  perceive  it  not  as  a  great  body  of 
solid  fixed  matter,  but  rather  as  an  aggregation 
of  an  infinite  number  of  the  tiniest  particles 


REALITY  OF  THE  ASTRAL 


31 


themselves  built  into  atoms;  these  built  into 
molecules ;  and  these  built  into  solid  masses. 

The  space  between  the  ions  of  the  material 
atom  is  as  comparatively  great  as  the  space 
between  the  planets  of  our  solar  system.  And 
every  ion,  atom  and  molecule  is  in  constant 
and  intense  motion.  Under  a  glass  of  sufficient 
power,  there  would  seem  to  be  nothing  solid 
in  the  material  world.  If  the  magnifying  glass 
were  to  be  raised  to  an  infinite  power,  even 
the  ions  would  melt  into  seething  nothingness, 
and  there  would  be  nothing  left  but  the  ether 
which  has  no  weight  and  which  is  impercep¬ 
tible  to  the  senses  even  when  aided  by  the 
strongest  instruments  of  the  laboratory.  So 
you  see,  the  solidity  of  things  is  merely  relative 
and  comparative.  The  vibration  of  substance 
on  the  Astral  is  higher  than  those  of  the  mate¬ 
rial  plane;  but  even  the  Astral  vibrations  are 
far  slower  than  those  of  the  next  higher  plane, 
and  so  on. 

To  the  traveller  on  the  Astral  the  scenery, 
and  everything  connected  therewith,  seems  as 
solid  as  the  most  solid  material  does  to  the 
physical  eye.  It  really  is  just  as  solid  as  is  the 
astral  body  in  which  you  visit  it,  for  that  mat¬ 
ter.  As  for  reality,  the  Astral  is  just  as  real 
as  is  the  material,  in  every  respect. 


22 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


The  Forces  of  Nature  are  not  perceptible  to 
the  physical  eye,  except  as  manifesting  through 
matter — but  they  are  very  real  as  all  of  us  know 
by  experience.  You  cannot  see  electricity, 
but  when  you  receive  its  shock  you  realize 
its  reality.  You  cannot  see  the  force  of  grav¬ 
ity,  but  you  become  painfully  aware  of  its 
reality  when  it  drops  an  apple  on  your  head; 
or  causes  you  to  fall  suddenly  when  you  make 
a  misstep  on  the  curb  of  the  street.  In  fact,  it 
is  realized  by  all  advanced  occultists,  that  if 
there  really  can  be  said  to  be  any  degrees  in 
reality  between  things,  the  balance  is  in  favor 
of  the  finer  forms  of  substance  and  forces,  and 
against  the  less  fine. 

So,  student,  never  permit  yourself  to  think 
of  the  Astral  as  something  comparatively 
unreal,  or  as  only  relatively  existent.  I,  of 
course,  am  not  speaking  of  Reality  in  the 
metaphysical  sense  of  the  term,  for  in  such 
sense  the  entire  manifested  universe,  including 
all  of  its  planes,  is  unreal  as  compared  to  the 
One  Reality.  And,  again,  do  not  permit  your¬ 
self  to  think  of  the  astral  senses  as  being  one 
whit  less  real,  reliable  and  important  than 
those  of  the  physical  body.  Each  class  of  sense 
perception  has  its  own  proper  field  in  which  it 
is  king.  Each  is  master  in  its  own  realm.  And 


REALITY  OF  THE  ASTRAL 


23 


there  should  be  no  attempt  to  draw  distinc¬ 
tions  of  reality  between  them.  At  the  last, 
they  are  all  but  the  mechanism  of  conscious¬ 
ness,  or  “awareness,”  each  adapted  to  the 
peculiar  requirements  of  its  environment. 

The  Astral  has  its  scenery,  geography  ( !), 
and  “things,”  just  as  has  the  material  world. 
These  things  are  just  as  real  as  are  England, 
the  Vatican,  St.  Paul’s,  the  Capitol  at  Wash¬ 
ington;  Broadway,  Picadilly,  or  the  Rue  de  la 
Paix;  the  Great  Redwood  Trees  of  California, 
the  Grand  Canyon,  the  Alps,  or  the  Black 
Forest.  Its  inhabitants  are  just  as  real  as  any 
of  the  great  men  of  the  country  in  which  you 
live,  or  those  of  any  other  country,  whose 
names  I  hesitate  to  call,  lest  they  pass  from 
this  material  plane  and  thus  become  “unreal” 
even  before  these  printed  words  pass  before 
your  eye,  so  impermanent  are  the  inhabitants 
and  things  of  even  this  real  ( !)  material  world. 

The  law  of  constant  change  operates  on  the 
Astral  just  as  on  the  material  plane.  There, 
things  come  and  go,  just  as  they  do  here  on 
the  material  plane.  Stop  a  moment  and  con¬ 
centrate  on  the  gist  of  the  matter,  and  you 
will  see  that  the  difference  between  the  things 
of  the  two  planes  is  simply  like  the  difference 
between  red  and  blue — simply  a  difference  in 


24 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


the  rate  of  vibration  of  substance.  And,  this 
again,  is  the  cause  of  the  difference  between 
steel  and  hydrogen  gas,  between  electricity  and 
light,  between  magnetism  and  heat — simply  a 
difference  of  vibrations  of  substance. 

Moreover,  and  this  is  quite  important  to  the 
student,  the  Astral  has  its  laws  just  as  has  the 
material  world.  These  laws  must  be  learned 
and  observed,  otherwise  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Astral,  as  well  as  the  visitor  thereto,  will  reap 
the  result  which  always  comes  from  broken 
natural  laws. 

Again,  there  exists  what  may  be  called  the 
“geography”  of  the  Astral,  if  this  material- 
plane  word  is  permitted  in  this  connection. 
There  are  regions,  points  of  space,  places, 
kingdoms,  countries,  etc.,  on  the  Astral,  just 
as  on  the  material  plane.  Sometimes  these 
Astral  regions  have  no  connection  with  any  on 
the  material  plane,  while  in  other  cases  they 
have  a  very  direct  connection  with  and  rela¬ 
tion  to,  material  places  and  the  inhabitants 
thereof. 

One  may  travel  from  one  region  of  the 
Astral  to  another,  by  simply  an  act  of  will 
which  raises  the  vibration  of  the  astral  body, 
without  it  moving  a  point  in  space.  Again,  one 
may  travel  in  space  from  one  point  to  another 


REALITY  OF  THE  ASTRAL 


25 


on  the  Astral,  in  cases  where  these  points  have 
some  relation  to  points  on  the  material  plane. 

As  an  instance  of  this  latter  form  of  travel, 
I  would  say  that  one  may  travel  in  the  Astral 
from  Berlin  to  Bombay — in  but  the  twinkle  of 
an  eye,  as  regards  time, — by  merely  wishing  or 
willing  to  do  so.  Yes!  time  and  space  have 
their  manifestation  on  the  Astral.  But,  never¬ 
theless,  certain  Astral  manifestations,  on  its 
seven-times-seven  sub-planes,  may  be,  and 
likely  are,  present  THERE  in,  at,  and  on,  the 
exact  point  of  space  which  you  are  occupying 
at  this  moment  on  the  material  plane — and  this 
very  moment  of  time,  NOW! 

If  you  have  the  knowledge  and  power,  you, 
without  leaving  your  seat,  may  traverse  all  of 
these  sub-planes,  one  after  the  other,  witness¬ 
ing  their  scenery  and  inhabitants,  their  phe¬ 
nomena  and  activity,  and  then  return  to  the 
material  plane — all  in  a  moment  of  time,  and 
without  changing  a  single  point  in  space. 

Or,  if  you  prefer,  you  may  travel  to  any  of 
these  sub-planes  of  the  Astral,  at  your  point  of 
space,  and  then  travel  in  space  on  the  Astral 
to  some  other  place  on  that  sub-plane;  and 
then  have  the  choice  of  returning  either  the 
same  way  by  which  you  came,  or  else  descend¬ 
ing  to  the  material  plane  and  travelling  on  it, 


26 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


in  your  astral  body,  back  to  where  your 
physical  body  is  resting.  Read  over  these  last 
two  paragraphs,  until  you  get  the  idea  clearly 
fixed  in  your  mind,  for  by  so  doing  you  will 
be  able  to  comprehend  more  easily  that  which 
I  shall  have  to  say  to  you  in  the  following 
chapters  of  this  book. 

In  travelling  on  the  Astral,  one  meets  with 
many  strange  inhabitants  of  that  wonderful 
realm  of  Nature — some  pleasant  and  others 
unpleasant.  Some  of  these  inhabitants  have 
passed  on  from  the  material  plane,  while  others 
have  never  dwelt  there,  these  latter  forms 
being  natives  of  the  Astral  and  peculiar  to 
itself. 

In  my  personal  class  instruction,  I  have 
found  it  advantageous  to  my  students  for  me 
to  describe  the  phenomena  of  the  Astral  to 
them  in  my  lectures,  in  the  form  of  the  story 
of  a  trip  in  the  Astral,  rather  than  as  a  dry, 
technical  description.  In  such  lectures,  I 
assume  that  the  students  are  present  on  the 
Astral  with  me,  and  that  I  am  acting  as  their 
guide.  In  this  way,  a  much  clearer  conception 
of  the  subject  seems  to  be  gained  by  them. 
After  careful  consideration,  I  have  decided  to 
follow  this  same  plan — in  part,  at  least — in 
some  of  the  following  chapters.  I  need  scarcely 


REALITY  OF  THE  ASTRAL 


27 


add  that  the  descriptions  given  are  based  upon 
the  actual  experiences  of  advanced  occultists, 
including  myself,  and  are  not  dogmatic  state¬ 
ments  of  theory,  conjectures,  or  speculations 

_  \ 

of  mere  “book  occultists.’’  Every  fact  herein 
stated  may  be  verified  by  the  experience  of  any 
advanced  occultist. 


as 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PASSING  THE  BORDER. 

IDO  not  deem  it  advisable  to  enter  into  a 
description  of  the  technical  details  attend¬ 
ant  upon  the  process  of  passing  out  of 
the  physical  body  into  the  astral  body  of  finer 
substance.  Any  description  of  this  kind,  even 
though  it  be  but  merely  a  suggestion  of  the 
facts,  might  give  an  untrained  person  at  least 
a  hint  of  the  process,  which  might  lead  him  to 
experiment,  and  which  might  bring  upon  him 
very  undesirable  results.  I  shall  pass  over  this 
stage,  for  the  reasons  stated,  which  will  meet 
with  the  approval  of  every  advanced  occultist 
and  careful  student  of  occultism.  *  *  * 

Now,  student,  you  find  yourself  outside  of 
your  physical  form  or  body,  and  clad  in  your 
astral  form  alone.  You  probably  think  that  I 
am  joking  with  you,  for  as  you  glance  at  your 
body  you  find  that  it  appears  not  different  from 
your  ordinary  one.  Even  your  clothing  is  the 
same,  to  the  most  minute  detail — this  occurs 
through  perfectly  natural  laws  on  the  Astral 
plane,  which  I  cannot  take  time  to  explain  at 
this  time. 

You  realize,  however,  that  you  are  indeed 


PASSING  THE  BORDER 


29 


out  of  the  physical  body,  when  you  turn  your 
head  and  perceive  your  own  physical  form,  as 
well  as  mine,  seemingly  sunk  in  sleep  in  the 
arm  chairs  in  which  we  seated  ourselves  a  few 
moments  ago. 

Looking  a  little  closer,  you  will  see  that 
your  astral  form,  as  well  as  mine,  is  connected 
with  its  physical  counterpart  by  a  tiny,  thin, 
tenuous  filament  of  ethereal  substance,  resem¬ 
bling  a  rope  of  shining  spider-web  silk.  This 
filament  is  capable  of  expansion,  and  contrac¬ 
tion,  and  enables  you  to  move  about  freely. 

Now  concentrate  your  attention  as  you  have 
been  taught  to  do,  and  will  that  your  vibra¬ 
tions  increase  in  rate,  but  in  perfect  harmony 
with  mine,  so  that  you  will  keep  in  my  com¬ 
pany  instead  of  moving  on  to  other  sub-planes 
or  sub-visions,  parting  with  my  company.  You 
would  not  find  it  exactly  safe  or  pleasant  to 
leave  my  presence,  until  you  have  learned  to 
pilot  yourself  in  these  strange  waters. 

You  will  find  yourself  with  me  in  a  strange 
atmosphere,  although  you  have  not  moved  an 
inch  in  space.  Behind  you,  so  to  speak,  you 
perceive  dimly  the  room  in  which  we  were  just 
living ;  and  ahead  of  you,  so  to  speak,  you  per¬ 
ceive  strange  flashes  and  streaks  of  phos¬ 
phorescent  light  of  different  hues  and  tints. 


30 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


These  are  the  vibrations  and  waves  of  force, 
for  you  are  now  passing  through  the  Plane  of 
Forces.  That  vivid,  bluish  streak  is  the  pas¬ 
sage  of  some  electric  current — probably  a  wire¬ 
less  message  flashing  through  space.  Back  of 
you,  on  my  table,  you  see  the  magnetic  ore, 
or  lodestone,  paper-weight,  which  always  lies 
there.  But  now  you  see  the  peculiar  phos¬ 
phorescence  around  its  poles,  which  is  not  vis¬ 
ible  on  the  material  plane. 

You  also  notice  a  peculiar  faint  vibratory 
glow  around  every  physical  object — this  is  the 
force  of  atomic  and  molecular  attraction,  etc. 
Still  fainter,  you  find  a  peculiar  radiance  per¬ 
meating  the  entire  atmosphere — this  is  the  out¬ 
ward  sign  of  the  force  of  gravitation.  These 
things  are  all  very  interesting,  and  if  you  were 
a  learned  physicist,  or  great  physical  scientist, 
you  could  scarcely  be  dragged  from  this  plane, 
so  interesting  would  be  the  study  of  force 
made  visible.  But,  as  you  are  not  such  a  per¬ 
son,  you  will  see  more  interesting  sights  ahead 
of  you. 

Now,  you  feel  your  life  force  vibrating  at  a 
higher  rate,  and  realize  that  the  sense  of  weight 
seems  to  be  dropping  from  you.  You  feel  as 
light  as  a  feather,  and  feel  as  though  you  could 
move  without  an  effort.  Well,  you  may  begin 


PASSING  THE  BORDER 


31 


to  walk.  Yes,  “walk,”  I  said!  You  are  still 
on  earth,  and  the  floor  of  the  room  is  still  there 
under  your  feet. 

Let  us  walk  through  the  wall  of  the  room, 
and  out  into  the  street.  Don’t  be  afraid,  step 
through  the  wall  as  if  it  were  made  of  fog. 
There,  you  see  how  easy  it  is.  Odd  thing, 
really  stepping  through  a  brick  and  stone  wall, 
isn’t  it?  But  it’s  still  more  odd  when  you  stop 
to  consider  that  as  we  moved  the  wall  really 
passed  through  our  thin  substance,  instead  of 
the  latter  passing  through  the  wall — that’s  the 
real  secret  of  it. 

Now  let  us  walk  down  the  street.  Step  out 
just  as  if  you  were  in  the  flesh — stop  a 
moment!  there  you  let  that  man  walk  right 
through  you!  And  he  never  even  saw  you! 
Do  you  realize  that  we  are  ghosts?  Just  as 
much  a  ghost  as  was  Hamlet’s  father,  except 
that  his  physical  body  was  mouldering  in  the 
ground,  while  ours  are  asleep  awaiting  our 
return  to  them.  There!  that  dog  saw  you. 
And  that  horse  vaguely  feels  your  presence! 
See  how  nervous  he  is !  Animals  possess  very 
keen  psychic  senses,  compared  to  those  of  man. 

But  cease  thinking  of  yourself,  and  look 
closely  at  the  persons  passing  by  you.  You 
notice  that  each  one  is  surrounded  by  an  egg- 


32 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


shaped  aura  extending  on  all  sides  of  him  to 
the  distance  of  about  two  or  three  feet.  Do 
you  notice  the  kaleidoscopic  play  of  blending 
colors  in  the  aura?  Notice  the  difference  in 
the  shades  and  tints  of  these  colors,  and  also 
observe  the  predominance  of  special  colors  in 
each  case!  You  know  what  these  colors  mean, 
for  I  have  instructed  you  regarding  them  in  my 
teaching  on  “The  Human  Aura,  and  Astral 
Colors/’ 

Notice  that  beautiful  spiritual  blue  around 
that  woman’s  head !  And  see  that  ugly  muddy 
red  around  that  man  passing  her!  Here  comes 
an  intellectual  giant — see  that  beautiful  golden 
yellow  around  his  head,  like  a  nimbus!  But  I 
don’t  exactly  like  that  shade  of  red  around  his 
body — and  there  is  too  marked  an  absence  £>f 
blue  in  his  aura!  He  lacks  harmonious  devel¬ 
opment. 

Do  you  notice  those  great  clouds  of  semi- 
luminous  substance,  which  are  slowly  floating 
along? — notice  how  the  colors  vary  in  them. 
Those  are  clouds  of  thought  vibrations,  repre¬ 
senting  the  composite  thought  of  a  multitude 
of  people.  Also  notice  how  each  body  of 
thought  is  drawing  to  itself  little  fragments  of 
similar  thought  forms  and  energy.  You  see 
here  the  tendency  of  thought  forces  to  attract 


PASSING  THE  BORDER 


33 


others  of  their  kind — how  like  the  proverbial 
birds  of  a  feather,  they  flock  together — how 
thoughts  come  home,  bringing  their  friends 
with  them — how  each  man  creates  his  own 
thought  atmosphere. 

Speaking  of  atmospheres,  do  you  notice  that 
each  shop  we  pass  has  its  own  peculiar  thought 
atmosphere?  If  you  look  into  the  houses  on 
either  side  of  the  street,  you  will  see  that  the 
same  thing  is  true.  The  very  street  itself  has 
its  own  atmosphere,  created  by  the  composite 
thought  of  those  inhabiting  and  frequenting  it. 
No!  do  not  pass  down  that  side  street — its 
astral  atmosphere  is  too  depressing,  and  its 
colors  too  horrible  and  disgusting  for  you  to 
witness  just  now — you  might  get  discouraged 
and  fly  back  to  your  physical  body  for  relief! 

Look  at  those  thought  forms  flying  through 
the  atmosphere!  What  a  variety  of  form  and 
coloring!  Some  most  beautiful,  the  majority 
quite  neutral  in  tint,  and  occasionally  a  fierce, 
fiery  one  tearing  its  way  along  toward  its 
mark.  Observe  those  whirling  and  swirling 
tiny  cyclonic  thought-forms  as  they  are  thrown 
off  from  that  business  house.  Across  the  street, 
notice  that  great  octopus  monster  of  a  thought- 
form,  with  its  great  tentacles  striving  to  wind 
around  passing  persons  and  draw  them  into 


34 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


that  flashy  dance-hall  and  dram-shop.  A  devil¬ 
ish  monster  which  we  would  do  well  to  destroy. 
Turn  your  concentrated  thought  upon  it,  and 
will  it  out  of  existence — there,  that’s  the  right 
way;  watch  it  sicken  and  shrivel!  But  alas! 
more  of  its  kind  will  come  forth  from  that 
place. 

Here,  will  yourself  up  above  the  level  of  the 
housetops — you  can  do  it  easily,  if  you  only 
realize  that  you  can — there,  I  have  helped  you 
to  do  it  this  time,  it’s  quite  easy  when  you 
once  gain  confidence.  However,  if  you  lose 
confidence,  and  grow  afraid,  down  you  will 
tumble  to  the  ground,  and  will  bruise  your 
astral  body. 

From  this  height  look  down  around  you. 
You  will  see  a  great  multitude  of  tiny  candle¬ 
like  lights — each  represents  a  human  soul. 
Here  or  there  you  will  see  a  few  much  brighter 
lights,  and  far  apart  you  will  see  some  that 
shine  like  a  brilliant  electric  spark — these  last 
are  the  auric  symbols  of  an  advanced  soul. 
“Let  your  light  so  shine — ” !  Behold  the  radi¬ 
ance  emerging  from  that  humble  house  of 
religious  worship,  and  contrast  it  with  the 
unpleasant  auric  atmosphere  of  that  mag¬ 
nificent  church  structure  next  door  to  it — can 


PASSING  THE  BORDER 


35 


you  not  read  the  story  of  spirituality  and  the 
lack  of  it  in  the  cases  of  these  churches? 

But  these  sights,  interesting  though  they  be, 
and  as  useful  as  they  are  in  illustrating  the 
lessons  you  have  learned  in  the  class,  or  from 
the  manual,  are  far  less  in  the  scale  than  those 
which  we  shall  witness  in  a  moment.  Come, 
take  my  hand.  Our  vibrations  are  raising. 
*  *  *  Come ! 


36 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


# 


CHAPTER  V. 

SOME  LOWER  SUB-PLANES. 

NOW,  student,  we  are  entering  the  vibra¬ 
tions  of  the  lower  sub-planes  of  the 
Astral.  You  must  nerve  yourself  to 

witness  some  unpleasant  sights,  but  be  not 

* 

afraid  for  nothing  can  harm  you  here  while  I 
am  with  you.  Were  you  alone  here,  lacking 
the  knowledge  of  self-protection,  you  might 
find  the  experience  very  terrifying.  But,  even 
then,  though  you  lacked  the  higher  knowledge, 
if  you  would  but  maintain  a  positive  mental 
state,  and  deny  the  power  of  the  Astral  inhab¬ 
itants  to  harm  you,  you  would  still  be  safe. 
A  firm  mental  attitude,  and  the  assertion  of 
your  own  immunity  will  act  as  a  barrier 
through  which  these  influences  cannot  pene¬ 
trate. 

Your  first  impression  is  that  the  material 
world  is  still  around  you,  with  all  its  scenes 
plainly  visible.  But,  as  you  look  you  will  find 
that  there  seems  to  be  a  peculiar  veil  between 
those  scenes  and  the  plane  upon  which  you 
are  temporarily  dwelling.  This  veil,  while  at 
least  semi-transparent,  nevertheless  seems  to 
have  a  peculiar  appearance  of  resistent  solidity, 


SOME  LOWER  SUB-PLANES 


37 


and  you  find  yourself  instinctively  realiz¬ 
ing  that  it  would  be  a  barrier  to  the  passage 
of  the  astral  entities  back  to  the  material  plane. 

I  now  change  our  vibrations,  for  a  moment, 
to  those  of  a  very  unpleasant  subdivision  of 
the  lowest  sub-plane.  This  is  the  subdivision 
which  the  old  occultists  were  wont  to  call  “the 
Astral  cemetery.”  We  shall  stay  on  this  plane 
of  vibrations  but  for  a  moment,  for  it  furnishes 
a  ghastly  sight,  and  its  atmosphere  is  most 
depressing.  Now,  hold  tight  to  me,  and  press 
close  up  to  me,  for  you  will  instinctively  feel 
the  need  of  protection.  Gazing  around  you  on 
all  sides,  you  will  see  what  appear  to  be  the 
disintegrating  forms  of  human  beings,  and 
even  some  animals.  These  forms  seem  to  be 
floating  in  space.  They  seem  real,  and  yet, 
some  way,  not  real.  You  realize  that  they  are 
not  physical  bodies,  but  still  they  bear  too 
close  a  resemblance  to  physical  corpses  to  be 
pleasant.  Take  one  good  look  around  you, 
for  I  shall  change  our  vibrations  in  a  moment. 
*  *  *  There!  we  have  left  that  scene  behind 
us!  But  before  proceeding  further,  we  shall 
pause  a  moment  and  consider  what  we  have 
just  witnessed. 

These  disintegrating  astral  forms  are  what 
occultists  know  as  the  “astral  shells.”  The 


38 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


astral  shell  is  really  an  astral  corpse,  just  as 
the  physical  body  in  the  grave  is  the  material 
corpse.  For,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  the 
disembodied  soul  eventually  leaves  the  Astral 
and  moves  on  to  what  the  occultists  know  as 
the  mental  or  spiritual  planes  of  being,  which 
are  symbolized  by  the  race  conception  of  “the 
heavens,”  of  which  all  religions  teach.  When 
the  soul  so  passes  on,  it  leaves  behind  it  the 
astral  body  it  has  inhabited  while  on  the 
Astral.  This  astral  body,  or  form,  then  begins 
to  disintegrate,  and  in  time  disappears  alto¬ 
gether,  being  resolved  to  its  original  elements. 
During  this  process,  it  dwells  on  this  particular 
division  of  one  of  the  lower  subdivisions  of 
the  lowest  Astral  sub-plane.  This  particular 
division  has  no  other  purpose,  and  is  separate 
and  apart  from  the  other  subdivisions. 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  the 
astral  shells  of  different  individuals,  so  far  as 
is  concerned  the  duration  of  the  shells  in  this 
particular  place  of  disintegration.  For  instance, 
the  astral  of  a  person  of  high  spirituality  and 
ideals  will  disintegrate  very  rapidly  indeed,  as 
its  atoms  have  little  or  no  cohesive  attraction 
when  once  it  is  discarded.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  astral  shell  of  a  person  of  earthly 
ideals  and  material  tendencies  will  hold 


SOME  LOWER  SUB-PLANES 


39 


together  for  a  comparatively  long  time,  so 
strong  is  the  attractive  force  generated  while 
the  shell  is  occupied  by  its  owner. 

Those  astral  bodies  are  “dead”  and  have  no 
consciousness  or  intelligence,  and  as  a  rule  can¬ 
not  even  be  galvanized  into  appearing  a  life 
as  can  the  class  of  astral  forms  known  as  the 
“spectres,”  or  “shades,”  which  belong  to  a 
slightly  different  category,  and  which  we  shall 
now  glance  at  for  a  moment.  *  *  *  There! 
gaze  on  the  scene  for  a  moment,  before  I 
change  the  vibrations  again.  *  *  * 

Our  momentary  glimpse  of  the  subdivision 
of  the  Astral  upon  which  the  spectral  forms 
abide,  was  not  a  pleasant  one,  but  it  is  interest¬ 
ing  because  it  explains  some  peculiar  features 
of  psychic  or  occult  phenomena  which  is  often 
misinterpreted.  You  noticed  that  instead  of 
floating  about  in  astral  space,  as  did  the  shells 
which  we  saw  a  few  moments  back,  these 
spectres  acted  like  shadowy  human  beings  in 
a  dazed  or  dreamlike  condition.  You  saw  them 
walking  dreamily  about,  without  set  object  or 
purpose — a  weird,  unpleasant  sight. 

These  spectres  are  really  astral  shells  from 
which  the  souls  have  departed,  but  which  have 
left  in  them  sufficient  power,  arising  from  the 
former  thought  and  will  vibrations  of  their 


40  THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


owners,  to  give  them  a  temporary  semblance 
of  life  and  action.  This  power  gradually  wears 
away,  and  the  shell  then  sinks  to  the  subdi¬ 
vision  which  we  saw  a  little  further  back.  In 
the  meantime,  it  dwells  on  this  particular  sub¬ 
division. 

In  the  case  of  the  soul  with  high  ideals  and 
spiritual  aspirations,  there  are  practically  no 
material  thought  vibrations  remaining  to  “gal¬ 
vanize”  the  astral  body  after  the  soul  has  with¬ 
drawn  itself.  Its  higher  nature  has  neutralized 
these  lower,  but  strong,  vibrations.  But  in  the 
case  of  the  soul  retaining  strong  material 
thoughts  and  desires,  the  power  is  much 
stronger.  In  the  latter  class,  even  after  the 
higher  nature  of  the  soul  has  drawn  it  upward, 
above  the  Astral,  these  lower  mental  vibrations 
may  persist  in  the  deserted  astral  form,  and 
thus  give  to  the  latter  a  semblance  of  life  and 
activity  which,  though  a  counterfeit,  may 
manifest  considerable  power  for  a  time. 

The  counterfeit  power  of  these  spectral 
forms  steadily  decreases,  but  in  some  cases  it 
persists  for  a  comparatively  long  time.  As  a 
rule,  the  power  disappears  in  the  way  stated, 
but  in  certain  other  cases  it  is  used  up,  as  a 
spark  is  rendered  bright  by  blowing  upon  it, 
by  means  of  a  psychic  stimulus  from  persons 


i 


SOME  LOWER  SUB-PLANES 


41 


living  on  the  material  plane.  I  am  now  allud¬ 
ing  to  the  power  generated  in  “circles,”  and 
through  mediumistic  persons,  on  the  material 
plane  or  earth  life.  The  psychic  power  so 
generated,  coupled  with  the  strong  mental 
attraction  set  up  between  persons  in  earth  life 
and  the  spectral  form,  may  cause  the  latter  to 
manifest  itself  to  the  former,  either  by  more 
or  less  complete  materialization,  or  by  partial 
manifestation  through  the  physical  organism 
of  the  medium,  or  mediums,  present. 

In  such  a  case,  the  spectre,  reanimated  and 
“galvanized”  into  seeming  life  by  means  of 
the  psychic  power  of  the  medium,  or  those 
composing  the  psychic  circle,  will  strive  to 
manifest  itself  by  speech,  automatic  writing, 
raps,  or  otherwise.  But,  at  the  bestx  its  efforts 
will  be  feeble  and  faulty,  and  the  persons  wit¬ 
nessing  the  phenomena  will  always  remember 
the  same  with  the  dim  idea  that  “there  was 
something  wrong  about  it” — something  was 
found  to  be  lacking.  In  some  cases,  the  vibra¬ 
tion  of  old  memories  will  survive  in  the 
spectral  form,  which  will  enable  it  to  answer 
questions  fairly  well,  and  to  allude  to  past 
experiences.  But  even  then,  in  these  cases 
there  will  be  a  shadow  of  unreality  which  will 
impress  the  careful  observer. 


42 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


Remember,  there  are  many  other  forms  of 
‘‘spirit  return,”  partial  or  complete,  but  much 
that  passes  for  the  real  phenomena  is  really 
but  a  manifestation  of  the  presence  of  these 
spectral  forms  of  whose  real  nature  we  have 
been  made  acquainted  by  our  glimpse  into 
their  region  of  abode.  Moreover,  these  entities 
(if  they  may  be  called  by  that  name)  borrow 
ideas  and  impressions  from  the  minds  of  the 
mediums  or  persons  in  the  circle,  in  addition 
to  their  own  shadowy  memories,  and  thus 
doubly  become  reflections  or  counterfeits. 

These  spectres  have  really  no  soul.  The 
soul  which  formerly  occupied  the  form  has 
departed  to  a  higher  plane,  and  is  in  ignorance 
of  the  performance  of  its  discarded  shell.  It 
is  pathetic  to  witness  cases  where  these  coun¬ 
terfeit  spectral  form  are  accepted  as  the 
departed  soul  of  the  individual,  by  those  who 
loved  him  in  earth  life.  A  lack  of  knowledge 
of  true  occultism  often  permits  of  deplorable 
mistakes  of  this  kind.  The  true  occultist  is 
never  deceived  in  this  manner.  These  spectres 
are  no  more  “departed  souls”  or  “spirits”  than 
a  galvanized  physical  corpse  is  the  individual 
which  once  inhabited  it,  though  the  current 
may  cause  it  to  move  its  muscles  and  go 


SOME  LOWER  SUB-PLANES 


43 


through  the  motions  of  life.  It  remains  a 
corpse  and  discarded  shell — and  that  is  just 
what  the  spectral  form  is,  plus  the  remaining 
vibratory  echoes  of  its  old  mental  life. 


44 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


CHAPTER  VI. 
DISEMBODIED  SOULS. 

YOU  very  naturally  inquire:  “But  where 
are  the  disembodied  souls,  themselves? 
I  expected  to  see  them  as  soon  as  we 
crossed  the  border  of  the  Astral !”  Yes!  that 
is  the  general  expectation  of  the  neophyte  in 
occultism,  when  he  gets  his  first  glimpse  into 
the  Astral  scenes.  But,  unless  he  happens  to 
stumble  at  once  upon  certain  sub-planes,  he  is 
apt  to  be  disappointed.  But,  the  better  way  is 
to  let  you  learn  the  story  by  viewing  the  vari¬ 
ous  sub-planes,  at  the  same  time  listening  to 
my  explanation  of  that  which  you  witness  on 
them. 

You  will  notice  that  our  vibrations  are  now 
changing,  and  growing  more  intense.  We  are 
now  entering  upon  a  very  wonderful  sub-plane, 
or  rather,  upon  one  of  the  subdivisions  of  such 
a  plane.  This  region,  I  ask  you  to  remember, 
is  one  the  entry  to  which  is  strictly  guarded 
by  the  law  of  the  Astral,  and  watched  over 
by  certain  very  high  spiritual  influences.  It 
is  a  sacred  place.  No  one  is  admitted  here  as 
a  visitor,  unless  he  be  of  high  spirituality  and 
pure  heart.  Even  a  trained  occultist,  unless 


DISEMBODIED  SOULS 


45 


he  possess  these  qualifications,  finds  it  impos¬ 
sible  to  enter  these  vibrations. 

This  region  is  the  resting  place  of  the  dis¬ 
embodied  souls  for  some  time  after  they  have 
left  the  physical  body.  In  it  they  dwell  in 
peaceful  slumber,  until  Nature  performs  cer¬ 
tain  work  in  preparing  them  for  their  new 
plane  of  life.  This  stage  has  been  compared 
to  the  cocoon-stage,  between  the  stage  of  the 
caterpillar  and  that  of  the  butterfly,  in  which 
stage  a  complete  transformation  is  effected, 
and  the  wings  of  the  new  life  are  developed  to 
take  the  place  of  the  old  crawling  form. 

We  are  now  on  this  particular  sub-plane. 
Enter  upon  a  contemplation  of  its  wonders, 
with  all  reverence  and  love  of  all  mankind. 
On  all  sides,  stretching  away  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  see,  you  perceive  the  slumbering  forms  of 
disembodied  souls,  each  astral  form  resting  in 
dreamless  sleep.  And,  yet,  even  if  you  were 
not  so  informed,  you  would  recognize  that 
these  forms  are  not  dead,  but  are  merely  sleep¬ 
ing.  There  is  none  of  the  atmosphere  of  death 
or  corpses  about  this  region.  Nothing  depress¬ 
ing,  you  notice.  Nothing  but  a  sense  of  infinite 
calm  and  peace.  Being  spiritually  developed 
yourself,  you  doubtless  feel  the  presence  of 
certain  great  spiritual  entities — though  you 


46 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


see  them  not,  because  their  vibrations  are  too 
high  for  you  to  see  them  even  by  astral 
vision — these  are  the  great  spiritual  guardians 
of  this  realm,  who  protect  the  slumber  of  the 
souls  at  rest  herein — the  Great  Watchers  of 
the  Sleeping  Souls. 

If  you  will  watch  carefully,  you  will  notice 
here  and  there  a  movement  indicating  the 
awakening  of  some  of  these  resting  forms. 
A  moment  later  the  form  disappears  from  the 
scene — it  seemingly  melts  into  nothingness. 
But  it  still  is  existent — its  vibrations  simply 
have  changed,  and  it  has  moved  on  to  another 
sub-plane,  or  division  thereof,  without  having 
been  aware  of  the  scenes  of  this  place.  It  has 
begun  its  real  life  after  death.  Let  us  move 
on,  leaving  this  scene  behind  us,  while  I 
explain  to  you  some  of  the  phenomena  of  this 
period  of  existence  of  the  disembodied  soul. 
*  *  *  Let  us  pause  here,  on  the  quiet  sub¬ 

plane,  until  the  matter  is  made  plain  to  you. 

It  is  a  common  teaching  of  many  religions 
that  the  disembodied  soul  enters  at  once  upon 
its  heaven  or  hell.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  some  branches  of  Buddhism,  how¬ 
ever,  teach  of  an  intermediate  state  called 
Purgatory,  or  a  similar  name.  Some  denomi¬ 
nations  of  the  Christian  Church  hold  that  all 


DISEMBODIED  SOULS 


47 


souls  slumber  in  unconsciousness,  until  the 
call  of  the  great  trumpet  of  Judgment  Day, 
when  all  awaken  from  their  long  sleep  and  are 
judged  and  sent  to  the  place  of  reward  or 
punishment,  as  their  cases  may  deserve.  You 
see  on  the  Astral  some  things  which  show 
you  that  all  of  these  views  have  a  basis  in 
fact,  and  yet  how  imperfect  are  these  concep¬ 
tions  of  the  theologies! 

All  occultists  know,  however,  that  nearly  all 
of  the  original  religious  teachers  had  a  very 
complete  knowledge  of  the  real  facts  of  the 
Astral,  and  higher  planes,  and  merely  handed 
down  to  their  followers  such  fragments  of  the 
truth  as  they  thought  could  be  assimilated  at 
the  time.  All  of  the  theological  teachings 
regarding  the  Life  after  Death — heavens  and 
hells — contain  some  truth,  but  none  contain  all 
the  truth. 

In  the  majority  of  cases,  the  mind  of  the 
dying  person  sinks  into  the  slumber  of 
so-called  death,  and  awakens  only  after  a 
period  of  restful,  transforming  slumber  upon 
the  Astral,  in  the  region  we  have  just  seen. 
In  some  cases,  however,  there  is  a  brief  wak¬ 
ing,  like  a  semi-awakening  from  a  dream, 
shortly  after  the  departure  from  the  physical 
body,  in  which  case  the  astral  body  may 


48 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


appear,  visibly,  to  some  friend,  associate  or 
loved  one — or  even  in  the  scenes  in  which  the 
person  usually  spent  much  of  his  time,  as,  for 
instance,  his  office,  shop,  study,  etc.  This 
accounts  for  the  occasional  instances  of  the 
disembodied  person  so  appearing,  of  which 
there  are  many  well  authenticated  cases.  But 
even  in  such  event,  the  disembodied  soul  soon 
becomes  drowsy,  and  sinks  into  the  pre¬ 
liminary  sleep  of  the  Astral,  moving  on  to  the 
region  we  have  just  left. 

There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  time  in 
which  the  disembodied  soul  slumbers  in  this 
state.  Strange  and  paradoxical  as  it  may 
appear,  the  highest  and  lowest  souls  in  the 
scale  of  development,  awaken  first.  The  aver-’ 
age  soul  slumbers  far  longer  than  either.  I 
will  explain  the  reason  of  this  to  you  in  a 
moment. 

The  highly  spiritual  person,  needing  but 
comparatively  little  transformation  to  fit  him 
for  the  higher  planes,  may  slumber  here  only 
a  very  short  time,  and  then  passes  on  to  some 
of  the  higher  astral  planes ;  or,  in  cases  of  high 
development,  may  omit  these  higher  astral 
planes,  and  pass  on  at  once  to  the  plane  or 
planes  above  the  Astral — into  what  occultists 
know  as  the  “heavens,”  which,  technically,  are 


DISEMBODIED  SOULS 


49 


regions  of  the  mental  plane,  and  the  ones  still 
higher.  The  average  soul,  however,  slumbers 
a  much  longer  time,  many  years,  perhaps,  and 
then  awakens  upon  a  higher  astral  plane  suited 
to  its  requirements. 

The  low,  material  soul,  as  a  rule,  awakens 
very  speedily,  and  passes  at  once  to  the  low 
plane  for  which  it  has  an  affinity.  But,  note 
this  difference :  the  highly  developed  soul 
awakens  speedily,  for  the  reason  that  it  has 
less  to  slough  off  and  be  transformed  into 
higher  attributes — the  work  is  already  par¬ 
tially  performed. 

The  average  soul,  on  the  other  hand,  requires 
a  much  greater  transformation  for  its  scenes 
of  higher  activities,  and  so  remains  much 
longer  in  the  transforming  sleep ;  and,  last 
(note  the  seeming  paradox,  and  its  explana¬ 
tion),  the  low,  material  soul  awakens  speedily, 
not  because  it  has  been  transformed  easily  for 
the  higher  scenes,  but,  on  the  contrary,  because 
it  is  not  destined  for  these  higher  scenes — 
it  never  reaches  them,  but  descends  to  a  low 
plane  of  the  Astral,  where  it  lives  out  its  low 
inclinations  and  ideals,  until  it  finally  sickens 
of  them,  at  least  to  an  extent,  and  then  is  ready 
for  further  transformation. 

All  souls,  however,  high  or  low,  eventually 


50 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


move  off  the  Astral  and  enter  into  the  place, 
or  rather  the  state,  of  the  Mental  Plane,  or  the 
regions  of  the  “heavens,”  leaving  their  astral 
shells  behind  them.  Some  of  the  highest,  as  I 
have  said,  mount  to  these  planes  without  any 
intervening  stay  on  the  higher  Astral,  but  the 
majority  have  their  share  of  Astral  life,  higher 
and  lower. 

On  the  “heaven”  planes,  the  spiritual  souls 
spend  great  periods  of  time  enjoying  the  well- 
earned  bliss.  Souls  lower  in  development 
spend  less  time  there.  The  low,  material 
souls,  scarcely  taste  the  experience  of  those 
high  regions.  I  shall  speak  further  regarding 
this,  as  we  proceed. 

As  a  general  rule,  I  would  remind  you,  the 
higher  the  advancement  of  a  soul,  the  greater 
the  time  between  its  incarnations;  and  vice 
versa.  There  are  special  cases,  however,  such 
as  the  call  to  duty  on  the  part  of  a  high  soul, 
or  a  strong  attraction  to  another,  or  others, 
approaching  reincarnation,  which  may  bring 
back  a  high  soul  in  a  shorter  time  than  it 
really  deserves — this  is  simply  renunciation, 
however,  on  the  part  of  the  high  soul,  and  is 
not  a  violation  of  the  general  rule  as  stated  a 
moment  ago. 

Let  us  now  change  our  vibrations,  and  visit 


DISEMBODIED  SOULS 


51 


some  of  the  scenes  of  Astral  life,  in  which  the 
awakened  souls  are  living,  moving,  and  hav¬ 
ing  their  being.  A  few  actual  illustrations  of 
life  on  these  planes  will  teach  you  more 
regarding  this  great  subject,  than  would  vol¬ 
umes  of  books,  or  years  of  verbal  teaching. 
Let  us  begin  at  some  of  the  lowest  sub-planes, 
and  their  divisions — the  sight  is  not  pleasant, 
but  you  will  gain  a  valuable  lesson.  *  *  * 


UNIVERSITY  of  ILLINOIS 

library 


52 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SCENES  OF  THE  ASTRAL. 

WE  are  now  vibrating  on  a  very  low 

subdivision  of  the  lowest  sub¬ 
plane  of  the  Astral.  You  are  con¬ 
scious  of  a  very  unpleasant  feeling,  and  an 
almost  physical  repulsion  to  the  atmosphere 
around  you.  Some  very  sensitive  natures 
experience  a  feeling  of  being  surrounded  by  a 
dense,  sticky,  foul,  foggy  atmosphere,  through 
which  they  must  almost  force  their  way,  when 
they  visit  these  regions.  It  is  akin  to  the  feel¬ 
ings  experienced  by  a  high-minded  spiritual 
person  on  the  earth  plane,  if  he  happens  to 
enter  a  place  inhabited  by  persons  of  a  lewd, 
vulgar,  depraved  nature  and  character — this 
magnified  many  degrees  by  reason  of  the  astral 
laws. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  one  of  the  old  Egyptian 
writers,  whose  work  survives  on  graven  stone, 
said,  some  four  thousand  years  ago:  “What 
manner  of  foul  region  is  this  into  which  I  have 
foolishly  come?  It  is  without  water;  without 
air;  it  is  unfathomably  deep;  it  has  the  dark¬ 
ness  of  the  blackest  night,  when  the  sky  is 
overcast  with  dense  clouds,  and  no  ray  of 


I 


SCENES  OF  THE  ASTRAL  53 


light  penetrates  their  curtain.  Souls  wander 
hopelessly  and  helplessly  about  herein;  in  it 
there  is  no  peace,  no  calm,  no  rest,  no  quiet  of 
the  heart  or  mind.  It  is  an  abomination  and 
desolation.  Woe  is  the  soul  that  abideth 
herein !” 

Looking  around  you,  in  the  dim,  ghastly 
light  of  this  region,  you  perceive  countless 
human  forms,  of  the  most  repulsive  appear¬ 
ance.  Some  of  them  are  so  low  in  the  scale 
as  to  seem  almost  beast-like,  rather  than 
human.  There  are  still  lower  forms  on  the 
subdivisions  just  below  this  one,  but  I  shall 
spare  you  the  disgusting  sight.  These  crea¬ 
tures  are  disembodied  souls,  in  the  astral  body, 
living  on  the  low  plane  to  which  they 
descended  when  awakening  from  their  very 
brief  astral  sleep. 

If  you  will  peer  through  the  enveloping  fog, 
you  will  become  conscious  of  the  presence  of 
the  material  world  as  a  sort  of  background. 
To  you  it  appears  detached,  and  removed  in 
space,  but  to  these  creatures — these  low 
souls — the  two  planes  seem  to  be  blended. 
To  them,  they  appear  actually  to  be  abiding 
in  the  scenes  and  among  the  persons  of  the 
lowest  phases  of  earth  life.  Even  you  find 
that  you  can  see  only  the  very  low  earth-scenes 


54 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


in  the  background — the  higher  scenes  appear 
blotted  out  with  great  smears,  like  a  censored 
newspaper  page  in  war  times.  To  these  poor 
souls  there  is  no  earth  world  except  these 
scenes  which  accord  with  their  old  desires. 

But  while  apparently  living  amid  these  old 
familiar  and  congenial  low  earth-scenes,  these 
souls  are  really  suffering  the  fate  of  Tantalus. 
For  while  they  plainly  see  these  scenes,  and 
all  that  is  going  on  in  them,  they  cannot  other¬ 
wise  participate  in  the  revels  and  debaucheries 
which  they  perceive  plainly — they  can  SEE 
only — as  for  the  rest  they  participate  only 
vicariously.  This  renders  the  place  a  veritable 
hell  for  them,  for  they  are  constantly  tantal¬ 
ized  and  tormented  by  sights  of  scenes  in 
which  they  cannot  participate.  They  can  exer¬ 
cise  simply  “the  lust  of  the  eye,”  which  is  but 
as  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  to  them.  On  all  sides, 
on  earth-life,  they  see  their  kind  (in  the  flesh) 
eating,  drinking,  gambling,  engaging  in  all 
forms  of  debauchery  and  brutality — and  while 
they  eagerly  cluster  around,  they  cannot  make 
their  presence  felt  (under  ordinary  circum¬ 
stances)  nor  can  they  participate  in  the  scenes 
which  they  witness.  The  lack  of  the  physical 
body  is  indeed  a  very  hell  to  them,  under  such 
circumstances. 


SCENES  OF  THE  ASTRAL 


55 


The  astral  atmosphere  of  low  dram-shops, 
pool  rooms,  gambling  hells,  race  tracks,  “free- 
and-easies,”  brothels,  “red-light”  districts — and 
their  more  fashionable  counterparts — are  filled 
with  these  low  astral  forms  of  souls  across  the 
astral  border.  Occasionally,  they  are  able  to 
influence  some  earth  companion,  who  is  so 
saturated  with  liquor,  or  overcome  by  drugs, 
that  he  is  physically  open  to  such  influences. 
When  they  so  influence  him,  they  strive  to 
lead  him  into  further  degradation  and  debauch¬ 
ery,  for,  in  so  doing,  they  obtain  a  reflex- 
gratification,  as  it  were.  But  I  shall  not  dwell 
upon  this  subject — it  is  too  loathsome. 

In  some  instances,  the  sojourn  on  this  low 
astral  sub-plane  sets  up  such  a  strong  desire 
for  rebirth  in  the  flesh,  among  similar  scenes, 
that  the  poor  soul  eagerly  presses  forward  to¬ 
ward  reincarnation  on  a  similar  low  plane.  In 
other  cases,  I  am  glad  to  say,  the  experience  so 
sickens  and  disgusts  the  poor  soul  that  it  expe¬ 
riences  a  revulsion  and  disgust  for  such  things, 
in  which  case  the  current  of  its  desires  nat¬ 
urally  carries  it  in  the  opposite  direction,  and 
it  is  given  the  opportunity  to  rise  in  the  scale 
of  the  Astral,  where  its  better  tendencies  are 
encouraged,  and  a  better  rebirth  finally  results. 

At  the  end,  however,  in  nearly  all  cases 


56 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


“living-out”  results  in  “out-living,”  and  even 
the  lowest  rises  in  time.  Some  few  souls, 
however,  sink  so  low  as  to  be  incapable  of  ris¬ 
ing,  and  they  meet  the  final  fate  (not  of  damna¬ 
tion)  of  annihilation.  Even  in  these  hells  of 
the  astral,  however,  the  degraded  souls  are 
“punished  not  for  their  sins,  but  by  them”  as 
an  old  writer  once  forcibly  stated  it. 

But  this  particular  scene  is  not  the  only  one 
on  this  sub-plane  of  the  Astral — it  has  many 
counterparts.  I  cannot  take  time  to  show  them 
all  to  you,  or  to  describe  them  in  detail.  I  can 
illustrate  the  idea,  however,  by  stating  that 
close  to  the  scene  you  have  just  witnessed,  is 
another  in  which  the  actors  are  those  miserly, 
money-loving  souls,  who  have  sold  all  their 
better  nature  for  the  mess  of  pottage  of 
worldly  gain.  The  punishment,  by  the  sin 
rather  than  for  it,  is  similar  to  that  of  the  low 
souls  in  the  preceding  scene.  They  are  tor¬ 
mented  by  the  sight,  but  are  tantalized  by  not 
being  able  to  participate.  The  result  is  prac¬ 
tically  similar  to  that  mentioned  in  the  last 
case — some  find  desire  increased,  and  others 
find  disgust  and  nausea  and  thus  seek  the  way 
to  higher  things. 

There  are  hundreds  of  similar  regions  on  the 
lower  Astral,  some  of  which  are  much  higher, 


SCENES  OF  THE  ASTRAL 


57 


however,  than  those  we  have  just  considered. 
All  of  them  serve  as  a  Purgatory,  or  place  of 
the  burning-out  of  desires  of  a  low  kind — not 
the  burning  of  material  flames,  but  by  the  fire 
of  the  desire  itself,  as  we  have  seen.  This  idea 
of  burning  away,  or  purging,  of  the  low 
desires,  is  found  to  permeate  nearly  all  relig¬ 
ions,  and  has  its  basis  in  the  facts  of  the 
Astral. 

Changing  our  vibrations,  and  mounting  to 
higher  sub-planes,  we  pass  rapidly  from  scene 
to  scene.  You  appear  astonished  to  notice 
that  many  of  these  scenes  seem  to  be  set  to 
scenery,  like  a  great  theatre.  You  notice  with 
wonder  the  artificial  nature  of  this  astral 
scenery,  and  wonder  at  the  fact  that  the  people 
on  these  scenes  seem  to  regard  this  scenery 
as  natural  and  real,  instead  of  make-believe. 
It  all  seems  very  shadowy  and  imperfect  to 
you,  but  very  real  to  them.  The  secret  is  that 
the  scenery  is  the  creation  of  the  minds  of 
those  taking  part  in  the  scenes,  and  those  who 
have  preceded  them  on  this  plane.  It  is  all 
make-believe — a  mirage,  so  to  speak — but  very 
real  to  those  taking  part  in  the  scenes. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  little  book  to 
describe  the  chemistry  of  the  Astral  by  means 
of  which  it  is  possible  for  the  mind  to  build  . 


58 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


up  scenery,  etc.,  from  the  astral  substance. 
To  the  advanced  occultist,  who  has  studied 
deeply  the  occult  chemistry,  the  matter  is  as 
simple  as  is  the  formation  of  ice  from  water, 
which  in  turn  was  once  steam — and  at  the 
same  time  as  wonderful.  The  traveller  on  the 
Astral  always  will  bear  witness  to  the  wonders 
of  that  plane,  the  scenery  of  which  is  all  built 
up  in  this  way,  though  he  may  not  be  able  to 
explain  the  chemistry  of  its  formation. 

In  this  way,  on  the  various  higher  planes  of 
the  Astral,  including  some  of  the  compara¬ 
tively  lower  planes,  we  find  beautiful  moun¬ 
tains  and  valleys,  rivers  and  lakes,  cities, 
towns,  villages  and  country-land — in  fact,  all 
forms  of  scenery  known  in  earth  life.  We  also 
see  buildings  of  all  kinds,  and  all  varieties  of 
household  utensils,  implements,  furniture,  etc. 
All  are  built  from  the  astral  substance  by 
means  of  the  imaginative  minds  of  the  dwell¬ 
ers  on  those  planes.  To  the  visitor  they  seem 
most  unreal — one  can  actually  see  through 
them,  and  on  all  sides  of  them  at  one  time, 
as  in  the  case  of  a  transparent  crystal.  But 
to  the  dwellers  on  the  Astral  they  are  as  solid 
and  real  as  are  their  material  counterparts — 
and  no  doubt  regarding  their  solidity  ever 
enters  the  mind  of  the  Astral  inhabitant. 


SCENES  OF  THE  ASTRAL 


59 


And  what  is  the  purpose  of  all  this  theatrical 
make-believe  of  the  Astral?  you  well  ask.  You 
will  see  in  a  moment,  when  I  give  you  the  key 
that  unlocks  the  secret  doors  of  the  Astral  life 
and  its  meaning. 


60 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LIFE  AND  WORK  ON  THE  ASTRAL. 


WHAT  I  have  just  said  regarding  the 

nature  of  the  astral  scenery  must 
not  be  taken  as  indicating  that  the 
Astral,  itself,  is  merely  imaginary  or  unreal 
in  any  sense.  Nor  is  the  substance  of  which 
the  scenery  is  composed  any  less  real  than  the 
substance  of  which  the  material  world  is  com¬ 
posed.  On  the  material  plane,  substance  mani¬ 
fests  as  matter;  while  on  the  astral  plane  it 
manifests  in  a  finer  form  of  “stuff”  or  material. 
Again,  on  the  material  plane,  the  material,  or 
matter,  is  shaped  by  the  physical  forces  of 
nature,  or,  perhaps,  by  the  mind  of  man  using 
the  original  material  in  order  to  build  “arti¬ 
ficial”  structures  or  forms. 

On  the  Astral,  on  the  other  hand,  the  astral 
material  is  not  thrown  into  shape  by  physical 
forces,  but  is  shaped  and  formed  only  by  the 
thought  and  imaginative  power  of  the  minds 
of  those  inhabiting  that  plane.  But  these 
shapes,  forms  and  structures  of  the  astral 
material  are  not  to  be  thought  of  as  existing 
merely  in  the  mind  of  the  astral  dwellers. 
They  have  an  independent  existence  of  their 


LIFE  AND  WORK  ON  THE  ASTRAL  61 


own,  being  composed  of  astral  material, 
though  shaped,  formed  and  built  up  directly 
by  the  mind-power  of  the  astral  dwellers, 
instead  of  by  the  physical  forces  of  nature. 

The  astral  scenery,  etc.,  survives  the  passing 
away  of  the  mind  which  built  it  up,  and  disin¬ 
tegrates  only  after  the  passage  of  considerable 
time,  just  as  do  the  material  things  on  the 
earth  plane.  As  for  the  power  of  the  imagina¬ 
tion  of  man,  do  not  be  deceived  for  a  moment — 
for  this  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  powers  in 
nature,  and  operates  strongly  even  on  the 
material  plane,  though  on  the  Astral  its  power 
is  more  easily  recognized  by  the  senses.  To 
the  dwellers  on  the  Astral,  their  scenery, 
buildings,  etc.,  are  as  solid  as  are  those  of  the 
material  plane  to  the  dwellers  thereupon. 

Passing  through  the  various  sub-planes,  and 
their  divisions,  on  the  Astral  you  notice  a 
great  variety  of  scenery,  and  a  great  differ¬ 
ence  in  the  character  and  occupations  of  the 
inhabitants.  But,  you  notice  one  general 
.  characteristic  underlying  all  of  the  differences, 
namely,  the  fact  that  all  of  these  persons 
(astral  dwellers)  seem  to  be  filled  with  an 
intense  earnestness,  and  manifest  a  degree  of 
concentration  which  gives  to  them  an  appear¬ 
ance  of  being  preoccupied.  This,  often,  to 


62 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


such  an  extent  that  they  seem  to  be  oblivious 
to  our  presence  and  passage  through  their 
midst,  unless  we  address  them  directly.  Again, 
everyone  seems  to  be  busy,  even  when  their 
tasks  are  those  of  sport  or  play. 

The  key  to  the  occupation  and  pursuits  of 
the  dwellers  on  the  Astral  is  found  in  the  prin¬ 
ciple  that  the  life  of  the  soul  on  the  compara¬ 
tively  higher  divisions  of  the  Astral  consists 
in  a  working  out  of  the  intellectual  desires, 
and  ordinary  tendencies,  tastes,  likes,  and  aspi¬ 
rations  which  they  were  unable  to  manifest 
fully  in  earth  life.  I  do  not  mean  the  low 
sensual  desires,  or  purely  animal  tastes,  but 
rather  the  “ambitions”  and  similar  forms  of 
desire  or  strong  inclinations.  Many  of  these 
inclinations  may  be  very  creditable  and  praise¬ 
worthy,  rather  than  otherwise,  but  they  are  all 
concerned  with  physical  manifestations,  rather 
than  with  spiritual  unfoldment  and  evolution 
in  the  strict  sense  of  these  terms.  The  higher 
planes  are  those  in  which  the  spiritual  forces 
bud  and  flower,  and  bear  fruit — the  Astral, 
even  on  its  highest  planes,  is  the  scene  of  the 
living-out,  and  working-out,  of  earthly  intel¬ 
lectual  and  similar  ambitions  and  aspirations. 

The  higher  the  plane  of  the  Astral  world,  the 
less  are  the  old  earth  scenes  in  evidence,  even 


LIFE  AND  WORK  ON  THE  ASTRAL  63 


in  the  shape  of  the  dim  background  we  saw 
as  we  progressed  on  our  journey.  As  we 
mounted  on  the  scale,  these  old  earth  scenes 
grew  very  dim,  and  where  we  are  standing 
now,  on  the  fourth  sub-plane,  they  are  prac¬ 
tically  out  of  sight.  This  particular  sub-plane 
is  not  particularly  elevating,  but  nevertheless 
is  interesting  to  the  student. 

As  we  pass  from  scene  to  scene,  we  see  the 
“happy  hunting  grounds”  of  the  American 
Indians,  thickly  settled  with  these  old  aborig¬ 
ines  who  have  been  dwelling  there  for  quite 
a  period  of  time.  They  are  busy,  and  happy 
hunting  their  astral  buffaloes,  and  other  game 
(all  artificially  created  by  their  imagination, 
from  the  astral  substance,  and  having  no  real 
existence  as  living,  feeling  animals).  A  little 
further  on,  we  witness  similar  forms  of  the 
“Spirit-land”  of  other  primitive  people,  in  some 
of  which  the  disembodied  warriors  fight  and 
conquer  great  hosts  of  artificial  foes,  and  then 
have  great  feasts  according  to  their  old  cus¬ 
toms. 

Valhalla  is  here,  as  well  as  the  other  imag¬ 
inary  Paradises  of  the  old  races  of  men.  But 
their  inhabitants  are  dwindling  in  number, 
being  caught  up  in  the  current  bearing  them 
on  to  reincarnation.  But,  note  this,  that  while 


64 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


there  is  nothing  elevating  in  the  pursuits  fol¬ 
lowed  in  these  scenes,  there  is  nothing  degrad¬ 
ing  or  lowering,  from  a  strictly  spiritual  point 
of  view.  But,  there  is  in  evidence  always  a 
living-out,  and  wearing-out,  of  the  old  desires 
of  this  kind,  to  make  room  for  higher  ones — 
all  tends  toward  spiritual  evolution. 

Raising  our  vibrations  rapidly,  and  passing 
over  many  degrees  of  scenes  of  this  kind,  we 
find  ourselves  on  a  considerably  higher  plane. 
Here  we  see  men  engaged  in  what  would  be 
called  “useful  work”  in  earth  life.  But  they 
are  performing  it  not  as  labor,  but  rather  as  a 
joyous  recreation.  Observing  closely,  you 
will  see  that  the  work  is  all  of  an  inventive 
and  constructive  nature.  The  men  and  women 
are  perfecting  that  in  which  their  interest  was 
engaged  while  on  earth  life.  They  are  improv¬ 
ing  on  their  work,  and  are  filled  with  the  joy 
of  creation.  They  remind  one  forcibly  of  Kip¬ 
ling’s  mention  of  the  future  state  when : 
“  ...  no  one  shall  work  for  money,  and 

no  one  shall  work  for  fame ;  but  each  for  the 
joy  of  the  working.”  On  some  of  these  sub¬ 
divisions  we  see  the  artist  busily  at  work, 
turning  out  wonderful  masterpieces ;  also 
musicians  creating  great  compositions,  of 
which  they  had  vainly  dreamt  while  in  earth- 


LIFE  AND  WORK  ON  THE  ASTRAL  65 


life.  The  architect  builds  great  structures — 
the  inventor  discovers  great  things.  And  all 
are  filled  with  the  joy  of  work,  and  the  ecstacy 
of  creative  imagination. 

But,  make  not  the  mistake,  student,  of  re¬ 
garding  this  as  merely  play,  or  as  possibly  a 
form  of  reward  for  well-done  world  work, 
though,  of  course,  both  of  these  elements  play 
their  part  in  the  general  working  of  the  Law. 
The  main  thing  to  remember  is  that  in  this 
work  on  the  Astral,  there  is  an  actual  mental 
advance  and  progress. 

Moreover,  in  many  cases,  here  on  these  very 
planes  of  the  Astral  there  is  being  built  the 
mould  from  which  will  actually  pour  great  in¬ 
ventive  and  creative  achievements,  on  the  ma¬ 
terial  plane,  in  the  future  incarnations  of  these 
souls  now  doing  work  on  this  plane.  The  As¬ 
tral  is  the  great  pattern  shop  of  the  world. 
Its  patterns  are  reproduced  in  matter  when  the 
soul  revisits  the  earth  scenes.  Many  a  work 
of  art,  musical  composition,  great  piece  of  lit¬ 
erature,  or  great  invention,  has  been  but  a  re¬ 
production  of  an  Astral  pattern.  This  will 
help  to  explain  the  feeling  common  to  all  great 
performers  of  creative,  imaginative  or  intel¬ 
lectual  work — the  strange  feeling  that  their 
work  is  but  a  completion  of  something  at  which 


66 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


they  had  previously  wrought — a  re-discovery, 
as  it  were. 

Again,  in  this  work-play  of  the  Astral,  the 
soul  is  always  at  work  using  up  old  ideas, 
aspirations,  etc.,  and  discarding  them  finally. 
In  this  way  real  progress  is  made,  for  after  all 
even  earth-life  is  seen  to  be  largely  a  matter  of 
“living-out  and  out-living” — of  mounting 
higher  on  the  steps  of  each  mistake  and  each 
failure.  In  the  work  of  the  Astral  many  old 
ideas  are  worked  out  and  discarded ;  many 
old  longings  exhausted  and  discarded;  many 
old  ambitions  manifested  and  then  left  behind 
on  the  trail.  There  is  a  certain  “burning  up, 
and  burning  out”  of  old  mental  material,  and  a 
place  made  for  new  and  better  material  in  the 
new  earth  life.  Often,  in  this  way,  on  the  As¬ 
tral  there  is  accomplished  as  much  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  improvement  and  progress,  as  would  be 
possible  only  in  quite  a  number  of  earth- 
lives.  Life  on  the  Astral  is  very  earnest  and 
intense — the  vibrations  are  much  higher  than 
on  the  material  plane. 

Bearing  this  principle  in  mind,  these  Astral 
scenes  which  you  are  now  witnessing  take  on 
a  great  and  new  meaning.  You  recognize  them 
as  very  important  school-rooms  in  the  great 
school  of  life.  Work  is  being  done  here  that 


t 


I 

LIFE  AND  WORK  ON  THE  ASTRAL  67 


can  not  be  accomplished  elsewhere.  Every¬ 
thing  has  its  meaning.  There  is  no  waste  ef¬ 
fort,  or  useless  activity  in  the  universe,  no  mat¬ 
ter  what  the  careless  observer  may  say  to  the 
contrary.  The  Astral  is  no  joke  of  the  uni¬ 
verse — it  is  one  of  its  great,  real  workshops 
and  laboratories  of  the  soul.  It  has  its  dis¬ 
tinct  place  in  the  work  of  spiritual  unfoldment 
and  evolution. 


i 


/ 


68 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HIGHER  PLANES  AND  BEYOND. 

RAISING  our  vibrations  a  little,  we  now 
enter  upon  the  great  second  sub-plane 
of  the  Astral,  with  its  seven  subdivi¬ 
sions  and  its  many  minor  divisions  and  re¬ 
gions.  Almost  before  I  tell  you,  you  will  feel 
the  religious  atmosphere  pervading  this  region. 
For  this  is  the  plane  upon  which  the  religious 
aspirations  and  emotions  find  full  power  of  ex¬ 
pression.  On  this  sub-plane  are  many  souls 
who  have  spent  some  time  on  the  other  sub¬ 
planes  of  the  Astral,  doing  their  work  there 
and  then  passing  on  to  these  scenes  in  order 
to  manifest  this  part  of  their  natures. 

But,  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  oc¬ 
cult  distinction  between  “spirituality”  and 
“religion.”  Spirituality  is  the  recognition  of 
the  divine  spark  within  the  soul,  and  the  un- 
foldment  of  the  same  into  consciousness ;  while 
religion,  in  the  occult  sense,  consists  of  ob¬ 
servance  of  certain  forms  of  worship,  rites, 
ceremonies,  etc.,  the  holding  to  certain  forms 
of  theology,  and  the  manifestation  of  what  may 
be  called  the  religious  emotions.  The  religious 
instinct  is  deeply  implanted  in  the  hearts  of 


HIGHER  PLANES  AND  BEYOND 


69 


men,  and  may  be  called  the  stepping-stone  to¬ 
ward  true  spirituality — but  it  is  not  spirituality 
itself.  In  its  higher  forms,  it  is  a  beautiful 
thing,  but  in  its  lower  ones  it  leads  to  narrow¬ 
ness  and  bigotry — but  it  is  a  necessary  step  on 
the  Path,  and  all  must  mount  it  in  order  to 
reach  higher  things. 

This  second  sub-plane  of  the  Astral  is  filled 
with  a  multitude  of  souls  each  of  whom  is  en¬ 
deavoring  to  manifest  and  express  his  own 
particular  shade  of  religious  conception.  It 
may  be  said  to  contain  all  the  heavens  that 
have  ever  been  dreamed  of  in  theology,  and 
taught  in  the  churches — each  filled  with  dev¬ 
otees  of  the  various  creeds.  Each  of  the  great 
religions  has  its  own  particular  region,  in  which 
its  disciples  gather,  worship,  and  rejoice.  In 
each  region  the  religious  soul  finds  “just  what 
he  had  expected’’  and  hoped  to  find  on  “the 
other  shore.”  Some  remain  content  in  their 
own  place,  while  others  growing  dissatisfied 
drift  toward  some  sub-region,  or  group,  which 
comes  nearer  to  their  newly  awakened  concep¬ 
tion  of  truth. 

In  passing  rapidly  through  these  regions, 
you  will  find  that  each  has  its  own  particular 
environment  in  exact  accordance  with  the  be¬ 
liefs  of  the  persons  inhabiting  it.  Some  have 


70 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


the  appearance  of  a  plain,  old-fashioned  meet¬ 
ing  house,  on  an  immense  scale;  while  others 
resemble  a  gigantic  cathedral,  filled  with  gor¬ 
geous  decorations  and  paraphernalia,  and  echo¬ 
ing  with  the  sound  of  glorious  litanies  and 
other  ritualistic  forms  of  worship.  Each  has 
its  officiating  priests  or  preachers,  according 
to  its  regulations.  You  see  at  a  glance  that  the 
environment,  scenery,  buildings,  decorations, 
etc.,  are  built  up  from  the  astral  substance  by 
the  imaginative  power  of  the  minds  of  those 
congregating  at  each  point.  All  the  stage-set¬ 
ting  and  properties  are  found  fully  in  evi¬ 
dence  (I  say  this  in  all  seriousness,  and  with 
no  attempt  to  be  frivolous  or  flippant) — you 
may  even  see  the  golden  crowns,  harps,  and 
stiff  haloes,  in  some  cases,  and  hear  the  sound 
of  “the  eternal  chant  of  praise.” 

I  regret  to  be  compelled  to  call  your  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  regions  of  some  lower  forms  of 
religion,  in  which  there  is  a  background  pic¬ 
ture  of  a  burning  hell,  at  which  the  devotees 
gaze  with  satisfaction,  feeling  the  joy  of  heaven 
intensified  by  the  sight  of  the  suffering  souls  in 
hell.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to  tell  you  that  the 
suffering  souls,  and  their  hell,  are  but  fictitious 
things  created  by  the  imagination  from  the 
astral  substance — a  mere  stage  setting  as  it 


HIGHER  PLANES  AND  BEYOND 


71 


were.  Dante’s  Inferno  has  its  adequate  coun¬ 
terparts  on  the  Astral  Plane. 

I  ask  you,  particularly  to  gaze  upon  this  most 
horrible  scene  before  us.  A  large  severely 
furnished  edifice  is  shown,  with  seated  con¬ 
gregation  wearing  stern,  hard,  cruel  faces. 
They  gaze  toward  the  top  of  a  smoking  bot¬ 
tomless  pit,  from  which  rises  a  sort  of  great, 
endless  chain,  each  link  having  a  huge  sharp 
hook  upon  which  is  impaled  a  doomed  soul. 
This  soul  is  supposed  to  rise  to  the  top  of  the 
pit  once  in  a  thousand  years,  and  as  each  ap¬ 
pears  it  is  heard  to  cry  in  mournful  accents: 
“How  long — how  long?”  To  this  agonized 
question,  a  deep  stern  voice  is  heard  replying : 
“Forever!  Forever!”  I  am  glad  to  tell  you 
that  this  congregation  is  dwindling,  many 
evolving  to  higher  conceptions,  and  practically 
no  new  recruits  arriving  from  the  earth-plane 
to  fill  the  depleting  ranks.  In  time,  this  con¬ 
gregation  will  disappear  entirely,  and  the 
ghastly  stage  scenery  and  properties  will  grad¬ 
ually  dissolve  into  astral  dust  and  fade  from 
sight  forever. 

All  forms  of  religion,  high  and  low,  oriental 
and  occidental,  ancient  and  modern,  are  repre¬ 
sented  on  this  plane.  Each  has  its  own  partic- 
•  ular  abode.  It  would  delight  the  heart  of  a 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


70 

1  u 


student  of  comparative  religion  to  visit  these 
scenes.  There  are  some  beautiful  and  inspiring 
scenes  and  regions  on  this  plane,  filled  with  ad¬ 
vanced  souls  and  beautiful  characters.  But, 
alas!  there  are  some  repulsive  ones  also.  It 
is  marvellous,  in  viewing  these  scenes,  to  real¬ 
ize  how  many  forms  human  religion  and  the¬ 
ology  has  taken  in  its  evolution.  Every  form 
of  deity  has  its  region,  with  its  worshippers. 
It  is  interesting  to  visit  the  scenes  once  filled 
with  the  worshippers  of  the  most  ancient  re¬ 
ligions.  Many  have  only  a  handful  of  wor¬ 
shippers  remaining  on  this  plane;  while  in 
some  cases,  the  worshippers  have  entirely  dis¬ 
appeared,  and  the  astral  scenery  of  the  region, 
its  temples  and  shrines,  are  crumbling  away 
and  disappearing  just  as  have  the  old  temples 
disappeared  on  the  material  plane. 

On  the  highest  of  the  sub-planes  of  the  As¬ 
tral  we  find  many  regions  inhabited  by  the 
philosophers,  scientists,  metaphysicians,  and 
higher  theologians  of  the  race — those  who  used 
their  intellectual  power  in  striving  to  solve  the 
Riddle  of  the  Universe,  and  to  peer  Behind  the 
Veil,  by  the  use  of  intellect  alone.  High  and 
low  are  met  with  here.  There  are  as  many 
schools  of  philosophy  and  metaphysics  here,  as 
there  were  religious  sects  on  the  plane  below. 


HIGHER  PLANES  AND  BEYOND 


73 


Some  are  pitifully  weak,  crude  and  childish  in 
their  conceptions — others  have  advanced  so 
far  that  they  seem  like  demi-gods  of  intellect. 
But  even  this  is  not  true  “spirituality,1 ”  any 
more  than  is  the  religious  formalism  and 
dogmas  of  the  plane  below.  All  has  its  place, 
however,  and  everything  is  evolving  and  un¬ 
folding. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  then  on  this  plane, 
and  the  one  below,  are  to  be  found  groups  of 
disembodied  souls  who  persist  in  declaring 
that  “there  is  no  hereafter  for  the  soul;”  “the 
soul  perishes  with  the  body;”  etc.  These  de¬ 
luded  souls  believe  that  they  are  still  on  the 
material  plane,  in  spite  of  appearances,  and 
they  have  built  up  quite  a  good  counterfeit 
earth-scenery  to  sustain  them.  They  sneer  and 
sniff  at  all  talk  of  life  outside  of  the  physical 
body,  and  bang  their  astral  tables  with  their 
astral  fists,  to  prove  how  solid  all  real  things 
are — they  believe  only  that  which  is  solid  and 
“real.”  This,  indeed,  is  the  very  irony  of  as¬ 
tral  life. 

You  have  noticed  certain  glorious  forms  on 
these  regions,  student,  as  we  have  passed 
through  these  scenes,  and  I  have  promised  to 
inform  you  as  to  their  character.  These  were 
those  highly  evolved  beings,  once  men  like  our- 


74 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


selves,  who  have  voluntarily  returned  from 
higher  spheres  to  teach  and  instruct  along  the 
lines  of  religion  and  philosophy,  combining  the 
best  of  both,  and  leading  upward  toward  Truth 
those  souls  who  have  arrived  at  a  possible  un¬ 
derstanding  of  these  things.  It  is  verily  true, 
on  the  Astral  as  well  as  on  the  earth  plane,  that 
“when  the  pupil  is  ready,  the  Master  appears.” 
The  Astral  has  many,  very  many  of  these 
Elder  Brothers  of  the  Race,  working  diligently 
and  earnestly  for  the  uplift  of  those  struggling 
on  the  Path. 

I  may  say  here,  that  an  understanding  of  the 
nature  of  the  various  regions  of  the  Astral,  and 
the  scenes  thereof,  will  throw  light  upon  the 
fact  that  the  reports  of  “the  other  side”  given 
by  disembodied  souls  at  spiritualistic  seances, 
etc.,  are  so  full  of  contradictions  and  discrepan¬ 
cies,  no  two  seeming  to  agree.  The  secret  is 
that  each  is  telling  the  truth  as  he  sees  it  in  the 
Astral,  without  realizing  the  nature  of  what 
they  have  seen,  or  the  fact  that  it  is,  at  the 
best,  merely  one  aspect  among  millions  of 
others.  Contrast  the  varying  “heavens”  just 
mentioned,  and  see  how  different  the  reports 
would  be  coming  from  some  of  their  inhabi¬ 
tants.  When  the  nature  of  astral  phenomena 
is  once  understood,  the  difficulty  vanishes,  and 

i 


HIGHER  PLANES  AND  BEYOND  75 


each  report  is  recognized  as  being  an  attempt 
to  describe  the  Astral  picture  upon  which  the 
disembodied  entity  has  gazed,  believing  it  to 
be  actual  and  real. 

I  wish  here  to  tell  you,  student,  some  little 
about  the  planes  higher  than  the  Astral. 
These  planes  transcend  adequate  description. 
Enough  to  say,  here,  that  each  soul  on  the  As¬ 
tral,  even  the  very  lowest,  finally  sinks  into  an 
astral  slumber  when  it  has  completed  its  work 
on  that  plane.  Before  passing  on  to  rebirth, 
however,  it  awakens  for  a  time  upon  one  of  the 
subdivisions  of  the  next  highest  plane  above 
the  Astral.  It  may  remain  awake  on  this 
plane,  in  its  appropriate  subdivision,  for  merely 
a  moment  of  time,  or  for  many  centuries  even, 
depending  upon  its  state  of  spiritual  unfold- 
ment.  During  this  stay  on  these  higher  planes, 
the  soul  communes  with  the  higher  phase  of 
itself — the  divine  fragment  of  Spirit — and  is 
strengthened  and  invigorated  thereby.  In  this 
period  of  communion,  much  dross  of  the  na¬ 
ture  is  burnt  out  and  dissolved  into  nothing¬ 
ness,  and  the  higher  part  of  the  nature  is  nour¬ 
ished  and  encouraged. 

These  higher  planes  of  Being  constitute  the 
real  “heaven  world”  of  the  soul.  The  more 
highly  advanced  the  soul,  the  longer  does  it 


76 


THE  ASTRAL  V/ORLD 


abide  between  incarnations  on  these  planes. 
Just  as  the  mind  is  developed  and  enabled  to 
express  its  longings  and  ambitions,  on  the  As¬ 
tral,  so  is  the  higher  portions  of  the  soul 
strengthened  and  developed  on  these  higher 
planes.  The  joy,  happiness  and  spiritual 
blessedness  of  these  higher  planes  are  beyond 
ordinary  words.  So  wonderful  are  they,  that 
even  long  after  the  soul  has  been  bom  again 
on  earth,  there  will  arise  within  it  memories 
of  its  experiences  upon  those  higher  planes, 
and  it  will  sigh  for  a  return  to  them,  as  a  dove 
sighs  for  its  far-off  home  towards  which  its 
weary  wings  urge  its  flight.  Once  heard,  the 
harmony  of  the  heaven-world  is  never  forgot¬ 
ten — its  memories  remain  to  strengthen  us  in 
moments  of  trial  and  sorrow. 

These,  then,  are  the  real  “heaven  worlds” 
of  the  occult  teachings — something  far  dif¬ 
ferent  from  even  the  highest  Astral  planes. 
The  reports  of  the  mystics  are  based  on  ex¬ 
periences  on  these  planes,  not  upon  those  of 
the  Astral.  Your  soul  has  truly  informed  you 
regarding  the  reality  of  the  existence  of  these 
wonderful  regions  and  scenes — it  has  not  de¬ 
ceived  you.  Therefore,  hold  fast  to  the  ideal 
and  the  vision — follow  the  gleam,  follow  the 
gleam ! 


THE  ASTRAL  LIGHT 


77 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  ASTRAL  LIGHT. 

IT  must  not  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that 
the  Astral  is  simply  a  plane  of  Nature 
created  for  a  place  of  temporary  abode  and 
development  for  souls  which  have  passed  out 
of  the  physical  body — a  mere  stopping  place 
between  reincarnations.  Important  as  are  the 
planes  of  the  Astral  in  the  progress  of  the  dis¬ 
embodied  souls,  they  form  but  one  phase  of 
the  activities  of  this  great  plane  of  Nature. 
Indeed,  even  eliminating  the  disembodied 
souls  from  the  Astral,  there  would  be  enough 
strange  and  wonderful  phenomena  on  that 
plane,  as  well  as  enough  wonderful  inhabitants 
and  dwellers  on  some  of  its  subplanes,  to  still 
render  it  the  place  and  region  of  interest  that 
it  always  has  been  to  occultists.  Before  we  fin¬ 
ish  our  astral  journey,  and  return  to  earth  life, 
let  us  take  a  hasty  glance  at  these  wonderful 
phases  of  astral  phenomena  and  life. 

THE  ASTRAL  LIGHT.  Changing  our  vi¬ 
brations,  we  find  ourselves  entering  a  strange 
region,  the  nature  of  which  at  first  you  fail  to 
discern.  Pausing  a  moment  until  your  astral 
vision  becomes  attuned  to  the  peculiar  vibra- 


78 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


tions  of  this  region,  you  find  that  you  are  be¬ 
coming  gradually  aware  of  what  may  be  called 
an  immense  picture  gallery,  spreading  out  in 
all  directions,  and  apparently  bearing  a  direct 
relation  to  every  point  of  space  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth. 

At  first  you  find  it  difficult  to  decipher  the 
meaning  of  this  great  array  of  pictures.  The 
trouble  arises  from  the  fact  that  they  are  ar¬ 
ranged  not  one  after  the  other  in  sequence  on 
a  flat  plane,  but  rather  in  sequence,  one  after 
another  in  a  peculiar  order  which  may  be 
called  the  order  of  “X-ness  in  space,”  because 
it  is  neither  the  dimension  of  length,  breadth, 
or  depth — it  is  practically  the  order  of  the 
fourth  dimension  of  space,  which  cannot  be  de¬ 
scribed  in  terms  of  ordinary  spatial  dimension. 

Again,  you  find,  upon  closely  examining  the 
pictures  that  they  are  very  minute — practically 
microscopic  in  size — and  require  the  use  of  the 
peculiar  magnifying  power  of  astral  vision  to 
bring  them  up  to  a  size  capable  of  being  recog¬ 
nized  by  your  faculty  of  visual  recognition. 

The  astral  vision,  when  developed,  is  capable 
of  magnifying  any  object,  material  or  astral,  to 
an  enormous  degree — for  instance,  the  trained 
occultist  is  able  to  perceive  the  whirling  atoms 
and  corpuscles  of  matter,  by  means  of  this 


THE  ASTRAL  LIGHT 


79 


peculiarity  of  astral  vision.  Likewise,  he  is 
able  to  plainly  perceive  many  fine  vibrations  of 
light  which  are  invisible  to  the  ordinary  sight. 
In  fact,  the  peculiar  Astral  Light  which  per¬ 
vades  this  region  is  due  to  the  power  of  the 
astral  vision  to  receive  and  register  these  fine 
vibrations  of  light. 

Bring  this  power  of  magnifying  into  opera¬ 
tion,  you  will  see  that  each  of  the  little  points 
and  details  of  the  great  world  picture  so  spread 
before  you  in  the  Astral  Light,  is  really  a  com¬ 
plete  scene  of  a  certain  place  on  earth,  at  a 
certain  period  in  the  history  of  the  earth.  It 
resembles  one  of  the  small  views  in  a  series  of 
moving  pictures — a  single  view  on  the  roll  of 
film.  It  is  fixed  and  not  in  motion,  and  yet 
we  can  move  forward  along  the  fourth  dimen¬ 
sion,  and  thus  obtain  a  moving  picture  of  the 
history  of  any  point  on  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
or  even  combine  the  various  points  into  a 
larger  moving  picture,  in  the  same  way.  Let 
us  prove  this  by  actual  experiment. 

Close  your  eyes  for  a  moment,  while  we 
travel  back  in  time  (so  to  speak)  along  the 
series  of  these  astral  records — for,  indeed,  they 
travel  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  history  of 
the  earth.  Now  open  your  eyes!  Looking 
around  you,  you  perceive  the  pictured  repre- 


80 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


sentation  of  strange  scenes  filled  with  persons 
wearing  a  peculiar  garb — but  all  is  still,  no  life, 
no  motion. 

Now,  let  us  move  forward  in  time,  at  a  much 
higher  rate  than  that  in  which  the  astral  views 
were  registered.  You  now  see  flying  before 
you  the  great  movement  of  life  on  a  certain 
point  of  space,  in  a  far  distant  age.  From  birth 
to  death  you  see  the  life  of  these  strange  peo¬ 
ple,  all  in  the  space  of  a  few  moments.  Great 
battles  are  fought,  and  cities  rise  before  your 
eyes,  all  in  a  great  moving  picture  flying  at  a 
tremendous  speed. 

Now  stop,  and  then  let  us  move  backward  in 
time,  still  gazing  at  the  moving  pictures.  You 
see  a  strange  sight,  like  that  of  “reversing  the 
film99  in  a  moving  picture.  You  see  everything 
moving  backward — cities  crumbling  into  noth¬ 
ingness,  men  rising  from  their  graves,  and 
growing  younger  each  second  until  they  are 
finally  born  as  babes — everything  moving 
backward  in  time,  instead  of  forward. 

You  can  thus  witness  any  great  historical 
event,  or  follow  the  career  of  any  great  per¬ 
sonage  from  birth  to  death — or  backward. 
You  will  notice,  moreover,  that  everything  is 
semi-transparent,  and  that  accordingly,  you 
can  see  the  picture  of  what  is  going  on  inside 


I 


i 


\ 

THE  ASTRAL  LIGHT  81 


of  buildings  as  well  as  outside  of  them. 
Nothing  escapes  the  Astral  Light  Records. 
Nothing  can  be  concealed  from  it. 

You  have  gazed  at  the  great  World  Picture 
in  the  Records  of  the  Astral  Light — the  great 
Akashic  Records,  as  we  Hindus  call  it.  In 
these  records  are  to  be  found  pictures  of  every 
single  event,  without  exception,  that  has  ever 
happened  in  the  history  of  the  earth — recorded 
just  exactly  as  it  really  happened,  moreover, 
the  record  being  ultra-photographic  and  in¬ 
cluding  the  smallest  detail. 

By  travelling  to  a  point  in  time,  on  the  fourth 
dimension,  you  may  begin  at  that  point,  and 
see  a  moving  picture  of  the  history  of  any  part 
of  the  earth  from  that  time  on  to  the  present — 
or  you  may  reverse  the  sequence  by  travelling 
backward,  as  we  have  seen.  You  may  also 
travel  in  the  Astral,  on  ordinary  space  dimen¬ 
sions,  and  thus  see  what  happened  simultane¬ 
ously  all  over  the  earth,  at  any  special  moment 
of  time,  if  you  wish. 

As  a  matter  of  strict  truth,  however,  I  must 
inform  you  that  the  real  records  of  the  past — 
the  great  Akashic  Records — really  exist  on  a 
much  higher  plane  than  the  Astral,  and  that 
which  you  have  witnessed  is  but  a  reflection 


82 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


(practically  perfect,  however)  of  the  original 
records. 

It  requires  a  high  degree  of  occult  develop¬ 
ment  in  order  to  perceive  even  this  reflection 
in  the  Astral  Light,  and  unaided  by  my  own 
power  you  could  not  perceive  these  sights  at 
this  time.  An  ordinary  clairvoyant,  however,  is 
often  able  to  catch  occasional  glimpses  of  these 
astral  pictures,  and  may  thus  describe  fairly 
well  the  happenings  of  the  past.  In  the  same 
way,  the  psychometrist,  given  an  object,  may 
be  able  to  give  the  past  history  of  the  object, 
including  a  description  of  the  persons  asso¬ 
ciated  therewith. 


ASTRAL  ENTITIES 


83 


CHAPTER  XI. 
ASTRAL  ENTITIES. 


ITHOUT  intending  to  go  deeply 
into  this  subject — for  the  same  is 
reserved  for  the  sole  teaching  of  the 
advanced  pupil,  and  must  not  be  carelessly 
spread  before  others — I  think  it  well  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  fact  that  on  certain  planes 
of  the  Astral,  there  exist  certain  entities,  or 
living  beings,  which  never  were  human,  and 
never  will  be,  for  they  belong  to  an  entirely 
different  order  of  nature. 

These  strange  entities  are  ordinarily  invisi¬ 
ble  to  human  beings,  but  under  certain  condi¬ 
tions  they  may  be  sensed  by  the  astral  vision. 
Strictly  speaking,  these  strange  beings  do  not 
dwell  upon  the  Astral  at  all — that  is,  not  in  the 
sense  of  the  Astral  as  a  part  of  space,  or  a  place. 
We  call  them  Astral  entities  simply  because 
they  become  visible  for  the  first  time  to  man, 
when  he  is  able  to  vision  on  the  Astral,  or  by 
means  of  the  astral  senses — and  for  no  other 
reason. 

So  far  as  place,  or  space,  is  concerned  these 
entities  or  being  dwell  upon  the  earth,  just 
as  do  the  human  beings.  They  vibrate  differ- 


84 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


ently  from  us,  that  is  all.  They  are  also  usually 
of  but  a  microscopic  size,  and  would  be  invis¬ 
ible  to  the  human  eye  even  if  they  vibrated  on 
the  same  plane  as  do  we.  The  astral  vision  not 
only  senses  their  vibrations,  under  certain  con¬ 
ditions,  but  also,  under  certain  other  condi¬ 
tions,  it  magnifies  their  forms  into  perceptible 
size. 

Some  of  these  astral  entities  are  known  as 
Nature  Spirits,  and  inhabit  streams,  rocks, 
mountains,  forests,  etc.  Their  occasional  ap¬ 
pearance  to  persons  of  psychic  temperament, 
or  in  whom  a  degree  of  astral  vision  has  been 
awakened,  has  given  rise  to  the  numerous  tales 
and  legends  in  the  folk-lore  of  all  nations  re¬ 
garding  a  strange  order  of  beings,  to  which 
various  names  have  been  given,  as  for  in¬ 
stance:  fairies,  pixies,  elves,  brownies,  peris, 
djinns,  trolls,  satyrs,  fauns,  kobolds,  imps,  gob¬ 
lins,  little  folk,  tiny  people,  etc.,  etc.,  and  sim¬ 
ilar  names  found  in  the  mythologies  and 
legends  of  all  people.  The  old  occultists  called 
the  earth  entities  of  this  class  by  the  name  of 
“gnomes the  air  entities  as  “sylphs the 
water  beings  as  “undines and  the  fire,  or 
ether,  beings  as  “salamanders.” 

This  class  of  astral  entities,  as  a  rule,  avoid 
the  presence  of  man,  and  fly  from  places  in 


ASTRAL  ENTITIES  85 


which  he  dwells— -for  instance  they  avoid  large 
cities  as  men  avoid  a  cemetery.  They  prefer 
the  solitudes  of  nature,  and  resent  the  onward 
march  of  men  which  drives  them  further  and 
further  into  new  regions.  They  do  not  object 
to  the  physical  presence  of  man,  so  much  as 
they  do  his  mental  vibrations  which  are  plainly 
felt  by  them,  and  which  are  very  distasteful  to 
them. 

A  certain  class  of  them  are  what  may  be 
called  “good  fellows,”  and  these,  once  in  a 
while,  seem  to  find  pleasure  in  helping  and  aid¬ 
ing  human  beings  to  whom  they  have  formed 
an  attachment.  Many  such  cases  are  related 
in  the  folk  lore  of  the  older  countries,  but  mod¬ 
ern  life  has  driven  these  friendly  helpers  from 
the  scene,  in  most  places. 

Another  class,  now  also  very  uncommon, 
seems  to  find  delight  in  playing  elfish,  childish 
pranks,  particularly  in  the  nature  of  practical 
jokes  upon  peasants,  etc.  At  spiritualistic 
seances,  and  similar  places,  these  elfish  pranks 
are  sometimes  in  evidence. 

The  ancient  magicians  and  wonder  workers 
were  often  assisted  by  creatures  of  this  class. 
And,  even  today  in  India,  Persia,  China,  and 
other  Oriental  lands,  such  assistance  is  not  un¬ 
known;  and  many  of  the  wonderful  feats  of 


86 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


these  magicians  are  attributable  only  to  such 
aid. 

As  a  rule,  as  I  have  said,  these  creatures  are 
not  unfriendly  to  man,  though  they  may  play  a 
prank  with  him  occasionally,  under  some  cir¬ 
cumstances.  They  seem  particularly  apt  to 
play  tricks  upon  neophytes  in  psychic  re¬ 
search,  who  seek  to  penetrate  the  Astral  with¬ 
out  proper  instruction,  and  without  taking  the 
proper  precautions.  To  such  a  one  they  may 
appear  as  hideous  forms,  monsters,  etc.,  and 
thus  drive  him  away  from  the  plane  in  which 
their  presence  may  become  apparent  to  him. 

However,  they  usually  pay  no  attention  to 
the  advanced  occultist,  and  either  severely  let 
him  alone,  or  else  flee  his  presence — though 
cases  are  not  unknown,  in  the  experience  of  the 
majority  of  advanced  occultists,  when  some 
of  these  little  folk  seem  anxious  and  willing  to 
be  of  aid  to  the  earnest,  conscientious  inquirer, 
who  recognizes  them  as  a  part  of  nature’s  great 
manifestation,  and  not  as  an  “unnatural” 
creature,  or  vile  monstrosity. 

ARTIFICIAL  ENTITIES.  In  addition  to 
the  non-human  entities  which  are  perceived  by 
astral  vision,  or  on  the  Astral  plane — including 
a  number  of  varietites  and  classes  other  than 
those  mentioned  by  me,  and  to  which  I  pur- 


ASTRAL  ENTITIES 


87 


posely  have  omitted  reference  for  reasons 
which  will  be  recognized  as  valid  by  all  true 
occultists — there  are  to  be  found  on  the  Astral, 
or  on  the  earth  plane  by  means  of  astral  vision, 
a  great  class  of  entities,  or  semi-entities, 
which  occultists  know  as  “artificial  entities.,, 

These  artificial  entities  were  not  born  in  the 
natural  manner,  nor  created  by  the  ordinary 
creative  forces  of  nature.  They  are  the  crea¬ 
tions  of  the  minds  of  men,  and  are  really  a 
highly  concentrated  class  of  thought-forms. 
They  are  not  entities,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
term,  having  no  life  or  vitality  except  that 
which  they  borrow  from,  or  have  been  given  by 
their  creators.  The  student  of  occultism  who 
has  grasped  the  principle  of  the  creation  of 
thought-forms,  will  readily  grasp  the  nature, 
power,  and  limitations  of  this  class  of  dwellers 
in  the  Astral. 

The  majority  of  these  artificial  entities,  or 
thought-forms,  are  created  unconsciously  by 
persons  who  manifest  strong  desire-force,  ac¬ 
companied  by  definite  mental  pictures  of  that 
which  they  desire.  But  many  have  learned  the 
art  of  creating  them  consciously,  in  an  ele¬ 
mentary  form  of  magic,  white  or  black.  Much 
of  the  effect  of  thought-force,  or  mind-power, 
is  due  to  the  creation  of  these  thought-forms. 


88 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


Strong  wishes  for  good,  as  well  as  strong 
curses  for  evil,  tend  to  manifest  form  and  a 
semblance  of  vitality  in  the  shape  of  these  ar¬ 
tificial  entities.  These  entities,  however,  are 
under  the  law  of  thought-attraction,  and  go 
only  where  they  are  attracted.  Moreover, 
they  may  be  neutralized,  and  even  destroyed, 
by  positive  thought  properly  directed  in  the 
way  known  to  all  advanced  students  along 
these  lines. 

Another,  and  quite  a  large,  class  of  these  ar¬ 
tificial  Astral  entities,  consist  of  thought-forms 
of  supernatural  ( !)  beings,  sent  out  by  the 
strong  mental  pictures,  oft  repeated,  of  the 
persons  creating  them — the  creator  usually  be¬ 
ing  unconscious  of  the  result.  For  instance,  a 
strongly  religious  mother,  who  prays  for  the 
protective  influence  of  the  angels  around  and 
about  her  children,  and  whose  strong  religious 
imagination  pictures  these  heavenly  visitors 
as  present  by  the  side  of  the  children,  fre¬ 
quently  actually  creates  thought-forms  of  such 
angel  guardians  around  her  children,  who  are 
given  a  degree  of  life  and  mind  vibrations 
from  the  soul  of  the  mother.  In  this  way,  such 
guardian  angels,  so  created,  serve  to  protect 
the  children  and  warn  them  from  evil  and 
against  temptation.  Many  a  pious  mother  has 


ASTRAL  ENTITIES 


89 


accomplished  more  than  she  realized  by  her 
prayers  and  earnest  desires.  The  early  fathers 
of  the  churches,  occidental  and  oriental,  were 
aware  of  this  fact,  and  consequently  bade  their 
followers  to  use  this  form  of  prayer  and 
thought,  though  they  did  not  explain  the  true 
underlying  reason.  Even  after  the  mother  has 
passed  on  to  higher  planes,  her  loving  memory 
may  serve  to  keep  alive  these  thought-form 
entities,  and  thus  serve  to  guard  her  loved 
ones. 

In  a  similar  way,  many  “family  ghosts”  have 
been  created  and  kept  in  being  in  the  same 
way,  by  the  constantly  repeated  tale  and  belief 
in  their  reality,  on  the  part  of  generation  after 
generation.  In  this  class  belong  the  celebrated 
historic  ghosts  who  warn  royal  or  noble  fami¬ 
lies  of  approaching  death  or  sorrow.  The  fa¬ 
miliar  family  ghosts  walking  the  walls  of  old 
castles  on  certain  anniversaries,  are  usually 
found  to  belong  to  this  class  (though  not  al¬ 
ways  so). 

Many  haunted  houses  are  explained  in  this 
way,  also — the  ghost  may  be  “laid”  by  anyone 
familiar  with  the  laws  of  thought-forms.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  these  artificial  en¬ 
tities  are  of  purely  human  creation,  and  obtain 
all  their  apparent  and  mind  from  the  action 


90 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


of  the  thought-force  of  their  creators.  Re¬ 
peated  thought,  and  repeated  belief,  will  serve 
to  keep  alive  and  to  strengthen  these  entities — 
otherwise  they  will  disappear  in  time. 

Many  supernatural  visitors,  saints,  semi¬ 
divine  beings,  etc.,  of  all  religions  have  been 
formed  in  this  way,  and,  in  many  cases,  are 
kept  in  being  by  the  faith  of  the  devotees  of  the 
church,  chapel,  or  shrine.  In  many  temples  in 
oriental  countries,  there  have  been  created,  and 
kept  alive  for  many  centuries,  the  thought- 
form  entities  of  the  minor  gods  and  saints,  en¬ 
dowed  in  thought  with  great  power  of  response 
to  prayer,  offering,  and  ceremonies.  Those  ac¬ 
cepting  the  belief  in  these  powers,  are  brought 
into  harmony  with  its  vibrations,  and  are  ef¬ 
fected  thereby,  for  good  or  evil. 

The  power  of  the  devils  of  savage  races 
(some  of  whom  practically  are  devil-worship¬ 
pers),  arise  in  the  same  way.  Even  in  the 
early  history  of  the  western  religions,  we  find 
many  references  to  the  appearance  of  the 
Devil,  and  of  his  evil  work;  witchcraft  diaboli¬ 
cal  presences,  etc.,  all  of  which  were  created 
thought-form  entities  of  this  kind.  Many  of 
the  effects  of  sorcery,  black-magic,  etc.,  were 
produced  in  this  way — the  element  of  belief,  of 
course,  adding  greatly  to  the  effect.  The  Voo- 


ASTRAL  ENTITIES 


91 


doo  practices  of  Africa,  and  later,  of  Marti¬ 
nique  ;  and  the  Kahuna  practices  of  Hawaii,  are 
based  on  these  same  principles.  The  effect  of 
“charms,”  etc.,  depend  on  the  same  laws,  in¬ 
cluding  the  effect  of  faith. 

Even  certain  forms  of  “spirits,”  so-called,  of 
certain  forms  of  spiritualistic  seances  arise 
from  this  principle,  and  have  never  been  hu¬ 
man  beings,  at  all.  An  understanding  of  this 
principle  will  aid  in  the  interpretation  of  many 
puzzling  phases  of  psychic  phenomena. 

“SPIRIT  RETURN.”  Nothing  that  I  have 
said’  must  be  taken  as  denying  the  reality  and 
validity  of  what  the  western  world  knows  as 
“spirit  return.”  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  fully 
familiar  with  very  many  instances  of  the  real 
return  to  earth-life  of  disembodied  souls.  But 
at  the  same  time,  I,  as  well  as  all  other  ad¬ 
vanced  occultists,  are  equally  aware  of  the 
many  chances  of  mistake  in  this  class  of 
psychic  phenomena.  Shades,  and  even  astral 
shells,  too  often  are  mistaken  for  departed 
loved  ones.  Again,  many  apparently  real 
“spirit  forms”  are  nothing  more  or  less  than 
semi-vitalized  thought-form  artificial  entities 
such  as  I  have  just  described. 

Again,  many  mediums  are  really  clairvoyant, 
and  are  able  to  unconsciously  draw  to  some 


92  THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


extent  upon  the  Astral  Records  for  their  infor¬ 
mation  regarding  the  past,  instead  of  receiv¬ 
ing  the  communication  from  a  disembodied 
soul — in  all  honesty  and  in  good  faith,  in  many 
cases.  Occultism  does  not  deny  the  phenom¬ 
ena  of  modern  western  spiritualism — it  merely 
seeks  to  explain  its  true  nature,  and  to  verify 
some  of  it  while  pointing  out  the  real  nature  of 
others.  It  should  be  welcomed  as  an  ally,  by 
all  true  spiritualists. 

ASTRAL  VISION.  It  must  not  be  sup¬ 
posed  that  the  astral  vision  dawns  suddenly 
upon  anyone,  in  full  force.  Rather  is  it  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  slow  gradual  development  in  the  ma¬ 
jority  of  cases.  Many  persons  possess  it  to  a 
faint  degree,  and  fail  to  develop  it  further,  for 
want  of  proper  instruction.  Many  persons 
have  occasional  flashes  of  it,  and  are  entirely 
without  it  at  other  times.  Many  “feel”  the 
astral  vibrations,  rather  than  seeing  with  the 
astral  vision.  Others,  gain  a  degree  of  astral 
vision  by  means  of  crystal  gazing,  etc.  That 
which  is  frequently  referred  to  as  “psychic 
sight,”  or  “psychic  sensing,”  is  a  form  of  astral 
visioning  or  sensing.  Psychism  is  bound  up 
with  astral  phenomena,  in  all  cases. 

In»this  little  manual,  I  have  sought  to  give 


ASTRAL  ENTITIES 


93 


you,  in  a  few  lines,  the  great  underlying  facts 
of  the  Astral  Plane.  I  have  crowded  very 
much  into  a  very  small  space,  so  that  you  will 
have  to  read  and  study  my  words  very  care¬ 
fully,  in  order  to  get  the  full  meaning.  In  fact, 
this  is  not  a  book  to  be  read  on  and  then  laid 
aside — rather,  it  should  be  re-read  and  re¬ 
studied,  until  all  the  essence  is  extracted. 

«1«  »'  •  «'»  vl# 

The  glimpses  of  a  number  of  the  sub-planes 
of  the  Astral  should  give  you  a  general,  clear 
idea  of  many  other  scenes  on  that  great  plane. 
Remember,  these  scenes  are  typical  of  those 
witnessed  by  any  advanced  occultist  who  is 
able  to  travel  on  those  planes— as  you, 
yourself,  may  verify  when  you  are  able 
to  vision  on  these  planes.  They  are  un¬ 
der-drawn,  rather  than  overdrawn.  Some  of 
the  more  startling  and  “sensational”  scenes 
have  been  omitted  altogether,  as  I  have  no  de¬ 
sire  to  attract,  or  cater  to,  those  seeking  sensa¬ 
tion — my  work  is  for  the  earnest  student,  alone. 

Use  this  manual  as  a  key  to  unlock  many 
mysteries — not  as  a  book  to  while  away  an  idle 
hour.  Do  not  have  any  “idle  hours.”  Do  not 
try  to  “kill  time.”  Be  an  earnest,  thoughtful, 
occultist,  ever  unfolding  and  evolving  as  you 


94 


THE  ASTRAL  WORLD 


progress  along  The  Path!  Look  Forward,  not 
Backward!  Look  Upward,  not  Downward! 
Have  Faith,  not  Fear!  For,  within  your  soul 
is  a  Spark  of  the  Divine  Flame,  which  cannot 
be  extinguished! 


VOLUME  I  OF  THE  OCCULT  MANUALS 

TRUE  OCCULT  KNOWLEDGE  GIVES  YOU 
PRACTICAL  POWER  AND  STRENGTH 


THE 

HUMAN  AURA 

ASTRAL  COLORS  AND 
THOUGHT  FORMS 


BY 

SWAMI  PANCHADASI 


ENGLISH  REPRESENTATIVES: 

L.  N.  FOWLER  &  CO. 

7,  IMPERIAL  ARCADE,  LUDGATE  CIRCUS, 
LONDON,  ENGLAND 


ADVANCED  THOUGHT  PUBLISHING  CO. 

168  N.  MICHIGAN  AVE.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Practical 
Psychomancy  and 
Crystal  Gazing 

By 

WILLIAM  WALKER  ATKINSON 


A.  Series  of  Eleven  Lessons  on  the  Psychic,  Phenomem 
of  Distant  Sensing,  Clairvoyance,  Piychom- 
etry,  Crystal  Gazing,  etc. 

— m — 

PARTIAL  SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS: 

Scientific  principles  underlying  Psychomancy.  Sensing 
objects  by  the  Astral  Senses.  Projection  of  the  Astral  Body. 

How  to  Develop  Yourself.  Development  Methods.  Con¬ 
centration.  Visualization.  Psychometry.  How  to  use  the 
Crystal  and  Mirror.  General  Instruction. 

Simple  and  Space  Psychomancy  and  their  differences. 
Seeing  Through  Solid  Objects.  Seeing  Down  Into  the  Earth. 
Diagnosis  of  Disease  by  Psychomancy. 

The  Astral  Tube. 

Psychometry.  Five  Methods. 

Various  forms  of  Crystal  Gazing.  Directions  of  “How  to 
Do  It,”  etc. 

Astral  Projection.  What  the  Trained  Experimentor  may 
do. 

Space  Psychomancy.  What  may  be  accomplished  by 
means  of  it. 

Sensing  the  scenes,  occurrences  and  objects  of  the  Past,  by 
Astral  Vision. 

Future  Time  Psychomancy.  Future  events  casts,  their 

shadows  before. 

Dream  Psychomancy.  This  lesson  will  explain  many 

hstances  in  your  own  experience. 


— m — 

This  most  interesting  study  is  stated  clearly,  so  that  al?  maj 
eadily  understand  the  fundamental  principle  of  Psycbic 
Mm  unication. 


— m — 

Price,  Cloth,  5©  cents 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  004600794 


